“Let Youth Work for You” The 5 Lessons I Learned Being a 20-Something Founder

I had the pleasure of interviewing Kara Cook and Heather James, the powerhouse duo that founded the real estate attorney firm of Cook & James in 2006 when they were each only 26 years old. Cook & James, now 20+ people strong, serves a unique need in the real estate industry with “at-home” closings: they bring the closing to the client where ever is most convenient. We decided to do this Q&A with both founders because, like they say on their website: “History is full of feisty female duos that team up and take on the world…but none pair up quite like Kara and Heather. And it’s quite possible that more than a few clients aren’t quite sure which is which, but that’s okay.”

Jean: Thank you so much for doing this with us! What is your “backstory” of how you become a founder?

Heather: I hired Kara as my legal intern in 2005 while I was working at a small firm doing workers comp and personal injury law. We immediately hit it off personally, became fast friends and daydreamed about how cool it would be if we had our own firm. We had long since realized that the typical culture of a law firm did not resonate with us. With eerily similar work (and life) ethics, a heavy dose of humor and an odd mixture of kindness and snark we decided we would just do it. With less vision and more guts than we had…