IU Health attorney navigates new world of dog bandanas

What started out as a new pandemic hobby has morphed into a unique, thriving business for an Indiana University Health attorney.

IU Health Associate General Counsel Kori Chambers said she started sewing after receiving a sewing machine from her mother for Christmas.

She watched a few YouTube videos, took a class at her local library and got started making dog bandanas.

“Working for a health care organization as a lawyer, I was spending most of my time working, and really needed some sort of an outlet,” Chambers said.

After making a few dog bandanas, Chambers thought she could sell them and gave away a few to some friends for Valentine’s Day.

“It just kind of spiraled very quickly into ‘this is going to be a business,’” Chambers said.

The business, Lily and Cooper LLC, gets its name from Chambers’ two Labradors.

With the help of one of her husband’s students, Anna Kavanaugh, Lily and Cooper LLC went online and Chambers began selling dog bandanas and bow ties.

“She helped me get my website up and going because I thought I was going to throw my computer out the window after I tried to,” Chambers said.

This summer Kavanaugh also sewed a few bandanas to help Chambers keep up with the demand. She wanted to learn how to sew a bag, and learning how to sew bandanas helped.

Kavanaugh is in her sophomore year at Purdue University studying economics and biology.

She said that she’d like to be a lawyer, but is still figuring out what she wants to do.

“(Chambers) is very successful in her own professional job as a lawyer, but she’s also found time to do something she’s enjoyed with this business. And I find that really meaningful, and that’s something I hope to do in the future, regardless of what I go into,” Kavanaugh said.

A passion outside of law

Pete Palmer, a New Albany attorney, ordered a custom bandana for his dog after learning about Chambers’ business on social media.

Palmer’s youngest son goes to the University of Alabama, and he wanted his dog to match the family’s school colors on game days.

“We go down and tailgate quite a lot, and everybody’s always decked out at the Alabama game, so we figured we needed to deck out our dog,” Palmer said.

He said his and Chambers’ paths crossed years ago awhile working in mediation on a medical malpractice case.

“We see each other in a professional capacity, whether we’re working together or adverse, and it’s fun to get to know the lawyers that we work with on the personal side, to see pictures of kids and trips and dogs and food, which is kind of what Facebook seems to be,” Palmer said.

He added that he enjoys seeing people take their interest outside of the law and just run with it.

“I thought it was really neat to see. And obviously her things are just gorgeous. I mean we were really tickled with the product that we got. And so she’s not just horsing around. They’re gorgeous. And I have high hopes for her that maybe it catches on and really takes off,” Palmer said.

Zooming to keep up

Chamber said she’s been surprised by how well her business is doing and is doing what she can to keep up.

“I kind of wanted to just do something that was a little bit more creative, because the rest of my family has very creative outlets. And I didn’t have anything,” Chambers said.

The last few months of the year tend to be Chambers’ busiest with the holidays.

She is looking to hire help and plans to reach out to Exodus Refugee Immigration Inc.

Chambers volunteered to help Exodus a few years ago when many Afghan refugees came to the Hoosier state. She didn’t know much about immigration law, but the organization helped and they saw more than 300 people needing visas.

“There was no way that the legal team that they had could do this many of these visa requests in the time period that it needed to be done. So they needed some lawyers to volunteer. And I did. I volunteered, and it was so rewarding,” Chamber said.

She said she thinks of the two young refugees she helped that day.

“I think about them all the time, and just hope that they’re doing well and that it’s all going well for them,” Chambers said.

Now, she wants to employ refugee women to help her with her business.

“A lot of times language barriers or child care issues don’t really allow them to be able to work outside of the home. Exodus provides a sewing machine to the family, along with several other things that they give them when they arrive,” Chambers said. “I was thinking that it might be a nice opportunity for some of the refugee women to kind of make some money to help their families without really needing to leave their house.”

Chambers is about to finish up the farmer’s market season where she sets up in Franklin and plans to open an Etsy shop as well.

She said she is ready for some help.

“I can’t believe that something I didn’t even know how to do two years ago has now turned into what it’s turned into,” Chambers said.•