PAMETNA HRVATSKA Tomislav Hodalj, powered by Janaf

Guest Tomislav HodaljHosted by Marijana MatkovićMay 3, 2026

Tomislav Hodalj

About this episode

What you'll hear in this conversation

Tomislav Hodalj is a fifth-generation woodworker, running a business in Lepoglava rooted in deep family tradition. But his company, Egorra, isn't just maintaining old ways; it's actively subverting them. Hodalj has taken oak – a material known for its beauty but also its susceptibility to water – and made it the foundation for waterproof bathroom furniture. He developed a proprietary coating and later partnered with a professor who had 'liquefied wood' but no application, combining their innovations to create something genuinely new. His story is a reminder that the most significant breakthroughs often emerge from a restless curiosity within a familiar domain. What happens when you question a fundamental property of the material you’ve worked with your entire life? Hodalj’s journey from a nagging thought to international awards shows how challenging basic assumptions can lead to entirely new product categories and market opportunities.

Insights from the conversation

What to take from this episode

The idea for waterproof wood emerged from Hodalj's frustration with a colleague who insisted nothing new could be invented. He thought, 'Why does wood leak?' and that simple question, rather than a grand plan, sparked the entire innovation. The most potent ideas often come from challenging a fundamental, often unquestioned, limitation of your own craft.

Hodalj's first experiment involved a simple wooden panel, glued and coated with his new material, into which he poured water. The next morning, the water level had barely dropped. Before building a product, prove the core concept with the simplest, most direct test; the result of that one panel told him the entire concept was viable.

When patenting, Hodalj learned he couldn't protect the entire sink, but rather the specific property of its waterproofness, much like Mitsubishi patented a ballpoint pen's ink-dispensing mechanism, not the pen itself. The true value of a novel product often lies in the single, specific technical breakthrough that makes it possible, not in its assembled form.

During the complex patent application process, Hodalj became frustrated and almost withdrew the filing, telling the patent office, 'Please, give me a paper to sign so we can withdraw this application and not embarrass ourselves.' Breakthroughs often arrive just after the point where you are ready to abandon them; persistence through the tedious stages is often the real test.

Professor Alan Antolović had independently developed 'liquid wood' but couldn't find a market application for it, while Hodalj had a waterproof wood product that could be enhanced. Their collaboration, initiated at a conference, shows that powerful innovations often arise when two seemingly complete but disconnected solutions find their missing piece in each other.

Hodalj named his first products, the Pavao sink and Kata bathtub, after his grandfather and grandmother. Even when pushing the boundaries of material science, grounding your brand in personal history and tradition can imbue it with an authenticity that resonates more deeply than abstract branding.

The company's sink is packaged in a wooden box on wheels, which doubles as an aesthetic display stand. This design choice elevates packaging from mere protection to an integral part of the product experience and brand identity, even making it a portable showroom.

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