Eli Polite has been a woodworker for as long as he can remember. The first power tool he ever used was a Skil saw at the age of eight. In high school he attended a vocational school where he earned a degree in carpentry. In time, he moved from construction jobs to all aspects of cabinetmaking. Working for a local cabinet shop, he quickly moved up the ladder to become the plant manager in a 50-man shop. After the market crash of 2008, Eli and a few friends started their own shop that specialized in countertops and cabinets. His work with granite won him national recognition. In 2015 his wife bought him a lathe for his birthday. For the first few years the lathe sat idle, but when he got around to using it, he found that he really liked turning—especially segmented turning. Eli immediately incorporated his knowledge of other crafts into his segmented work. In 2017 he entered his work in a competition at the Segmented Symposium in St. Louis, where he won first place. He has also been awarded three first-place ribbons at the Delaware State Fair.