This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Charles Bonfiglio, CEO of Tint World . It has been edited for length and clarity .
I was only 18 when I walked into the family home in Brooklyn and told my mom, dad and sisters, “We’re rich!”
I showed them the order I’d just received: $1 million worth of products for a young lady’s clothing brand I’d designed. I was thrilled, but my dad — who operated a clothing factory in Brooklyn — flipped the paper over and read the fine print. I’d be paid 90 days after delivery, but I’d have to front the costs of production: about $500,000, my father guessed.
My dad offered to put his house up as…
