Sunny Kobe Cook admits getting taken by prominent Seattle businesswoman

One of Seattle’s most successful businesswomen admits she got taken by another well-known Seattle businesswoman now at the center of a major controversy.

Sleep Country USA founder Sunny Kobe Cook joined KIRO Radio’s Dori Monson Wednesday to warn others about what happened to her.

Cook says she felt the need to go public after so-called retail guru J’Amy Owens failed to pay back much of a $50,000 loan and continued dodging Cook.

Owens has been in the headlines recently after Bill the Butcher, the company she headed, abruptly shut its six Seattle-area meat shops.

The Seattle Times reports the publicly-traded company spent hundreds of thousands of dollars helping Owen buy a $2 million Queen Anne Home she allegedly claimed was “corporate facilities,” duping shareholders.

The owner of the home is suing Owens, claiming she failed to make good on the purchase agreement.

Cook says it’s little surprise, considering what Owens did to her.

The award-winning entrepreneur and famous Seattle-area pitchwoman tells Dori she first met Owens over 20 years ago and the two became friends. At some point, Owens came to Cook and told her she was in financial trouble and needed help. So Cook agreed to lend her $50,000.

“The truth is, sometimes we’re stupid and I was being stupid,” Cook says. “It’s really easy when you have the resources to get sucked in to somebody else’s drama and say, ‘OK, you know, sure. How can I not help out a friend?'”

Owens ultimately paid back $10,000 of the $50,000 loan, but then refused to pay any more, despite repeated requests, says Cook. Recently, Cook got fed up and tried to get Owens to finally make good on the debt after more than a decade.

“The silence was deafening. I sent emails to every email address, I went through LinkedIn, I went through Facebook. I left a voice mail on her cell phone, I mean I reached out a bajillion[sic] different ways and never heard a response,” says Cook.

In frustration, Cook decided to go public and write a blog post outing Owens and warning others.

“I wanted business people to know there are no exceptions. If you loan money to somebody, you might as well consider it a gift because you’re never going to see it again,” says Cook.

Just two weeks later came word of Owens latest problems. It was purely coincidental, but Cook says it just proves her point.

“My reason for sharing this is to serve as a warning to others – never loan money to family or friends,” she writes in her blog. “You are not doing them a favor, no matter how much it seems true in the immediate. No matter how grateful they seem at the time, repaying a debt is never a high priority and from my experience – it doesn’t happen.

“Even if you have a signed, legal agreement; do you want to be in the position of suing a loved one? Even a good job and a so called ethical reputation are no guarantee of repayment. If you feel moved to “loan” money to those you love and value, consider it a gift. Make it clear up front that it is a gift and never mention it again. That’s the only hope of preserving a relationship.”