Can a drink change the world? | Jeffery Adler | TEDxAmericasFinestCity

This talk was given at a local TEDx event, produced independently of the TED Conferences. In a stirring delivery, mix-master of the hand-crafted drink chain, Dlush, Jeffery Adler shares a fiercely personal spoken word poem about a recent encounter with his ten year old son. Through the poem Adler reveals a life-changing revelation about getting to the ‘why’ behind everything that drives his life’s work to build a global drink company devoted to helping kids. With candor and courage, Adler talks about second chances, the power in the small, and the relentless endurance demanded in his rite of passage as an emerging social entrepreneur. Jeffery Adler is the founder of Dlush, a youth-market retailer specializing in hand-crafted beverages. The Dlush team is a collection of social entrepreneurs devoted to changing the world, one drink at a time. The retail chain has outlets in San Diego, Los Angeles, Kuwait, and Qatar. Recent expansion initiatives include a flagship outlet at main campus UC San Diego, its first student life storefront. Prior to Dlush, Jeffery worked as a retail consultant to executives of leading retail chains in Southeast Asia. Jeffery is noted for his category-defining innovations in the F&B space. He was recognized in 2009 as Top 50 People to Watch, by San Diego Magazine. Jeffery’s mission is to build a company home to San Diego that inspires the youth to connect around his product, and from it, inspire kids to go after their most personal dreams. Dlush has been featured in a variety of publications and television programs, including Weeds (Showtime Network), Entrepreneur Magazine, Fast Company, Inc. Magazine, Chain Store Age, Nation’s Restaurant News, and CNN. Jeffery is a graduate of Georgetown Law where he received his juris doctorate in international law, and University of Maryland, College Park where he graduated summa cum laude as the University’s valedictorian and commencement speaker. Jeffery enjoys speaking at schools and industry conferences on topics of social entrepreneurship. He is an active member of the TED community. He was a speaker at TEDx SDSU in 2013, and is scheduled for an upcoming talk at TEDx Americas Finest City on October 11, 2014. He is deeply passionate cultivating hope and supporting today’s youth – in the areas of education, sports and the arts. Jeffery and his wife Gilda are blessed with two beautiful children, Eric and Leah. About TEDx, x = independently organized event In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)