ODIES

In 1978, a young James Tinghitella, his father, and his brother Michael were working on a tile project in South Florida when something life-changing happened. The vapors from some of the chemicals became noxious to the point that the brothers barely made it out of the house alive. This made a lasting impact on James, and armed with a list of the chemicals they were using, his trusty bike, and a library card, he set out to find out what happened.

James learned about all manner of harmful chemicals used in the finish industry like Benzene, Toluene, and Isocyanate. Of everything James learned, the biggest watershed moment was reading about the horrifying health consequences related to exposure to these chemicals — one of the scariest being acute myeloid leukemia. James set out that day to develop a better way, and through years of research, James created his finish.