In attorney Coco Soodek's imagination, two men toil away their lives and dreams in a greedy soap maker's corporate office. Hap and Hazard, the protagonists of Soodek's first book, are likely characters for a comic in which big business is the evil villain.
In the case of Birth to Buyout: Law for the Life Cycle of Your Business, these disorganized dudes are simply guides through a detailed explanation of business law and what it takes to strike out on your own. With help of their lesbian attorney, Gravity, these two stumble their way through starting a new business with comically little know-how.
Windy City Times caught up with Soodek to talk about why she wrote Birth to Buyout; how it might save entrepreneurial hopefuls time and money; and why she wants other lesbians to read it.
Windy City Times: So I read the book, and I have to say I was surprised that I had a lot of fun with it. I really like the story of Hap and Hazard. How did you come up with the idea to use them to explain business law?
Coco Soodek: I don't know. They just came to me. I was writing the book, and I thought I was done. I was about a third of the way through, and I got bored. I figured well, if I'm bored, and I think this stuff is really fun, how is everybody else going to be? So I decided to write two characters to tell the story. And the other thing is that I wanted to show what it was like to work with a business lawyer.
Windy City Times: And the business lawyer in the book is modeled after a certain lesbian lawyer in real life?
Coco Soodek: Well, she is certainly the idealized me.
Windy City Times: Gravity does so much more in this book than I ever imagined business lawyers do. Are business attorneys typically as involved in helping clients start a business as Gravity is here?
Coco Soodek: Oh sure. If somebody comes to us and says, "What do we do? What do we do?, " we absolutely do that—more than you would ever believe.
Windy City Times: Something that I love about Hap and Hazard is that they are as bumbling as I would be if I started a business. It seems like part of the purpose of the book is debunking the idea that you have to be an expert before starting your business.
Coco Soodek: Yeah, that's exactly right. You just get to figure it out as you go along, and nobody really knows anything. I'm definitely making a political argument in the book, in the story part about what I think the effects of big business is on the entrepreneurial spirit. Part of what Gravity does for Hap and Hazard is gives them permission and tells them that it's possible. Like most people need somebody to validate their dreams, and that's what Gravity does for these two.
Windy City Times: Another reason that you wrote the book is that you want to make information that is usually costly in terms of legal fees more accessible to people. How can we use this book to save time and consequently money when we start a business?
Coco Soodek: One of the things that is really important is to know when to ask the right questions. So there's a big problem that a lot of people who manufacture a product have, which is that they have it made and then they forget to figure out what they're going to do with it once it is made. So now what you've got is a company that budgeted for manufacturing but not necessarily for shipping and storage.
So one of the things that I say is that we really need to ask these questions. Then, from the business perspective, there are legal things that you need to be aware of at the very beginning of the process, and they come in two flavors—one is stuff that is empowering, and one is stuff that is restricting.
Windy City Times: You say that the book is not a substitute for a lawyer. How can the book be used to supplement what a lawyer does?
Coco Soodek: The thing is, if I say to you, "look, you have to know there are these regulations about how flammable your fabric can be," now you know that they're there. If you find that out through Birth to Buyout, you found it for whatever the book is selling for, like 20 bucks. If you ask a lawyer that question, it's going to cost you like $2,000. So really the book is about the questions that you need to ask. So you can read my book, figure out the questions you need to ask, make some headway, and then get some help.
Windy City Times: I have to say, all of this sounds a little daunting.
Coco Soodek: Yes. It's not to say that it isn't difficult, but it is possible. It's incredibly possible.
Windy City Times: You write that part of your reason for putting this book out was that you had been serving others' visions but not your own. Have you always wanted to write this book?
Coco Soodek: Not a legal book. I've always wanted to write something and finish it and publish it. I didn't actually enjoy writing the book. I wanted to give the information away. That was what was more important to me.
Windy City Times: Who do you want this book to reach?
Coco Soodek: I would really like it if women, and particularly lesbians; we're a pretty entrepreneurial lot, but I'd like to see our ranks increase. I think that commercial power is political power and political power is legal power. We have a lot of catching up to do in terms of equality and there's no reason why we can't do it.
Birth to Buyout can be purchased online at most major booksellers.
