Pinky Cole aka “Slutty Vegan” is WOW. There are a thousand reasons why. She’s a very innovative gal, entrepreneur, and really good human.
Pinky Cole owns and operates the celebrity backed restaurant chain ‘Slutty Vegan’ with 11 locations and counting including Atlanta, Birmingham, Baltimore, Dallas, and NY. She’s opening a new location in NYC this weekend on Bleecker Street making that 3 spots now in NY with the others in Harlem and Brooklyn.
“When you walk into Slutty Vegan, you will see yourself “, said Pinky. “It doesn’t matter if you are white, black, blue, yellow, gay, straight, you belong here, and this is a safe space for you and I want my business to continue to speak for that. So Bleeker will speak to all those things and I’m excited about it and I’m excited about our expansion. “
“You know, and this is my first time announcing this, Bleeker Street is an ode to the LGBTQ community and the movement, right, and LGBTQ rights. So, a lot of the decor and the aesthetics will speak to that. And I’m very intentional on my approach and how I decorate my stores because I want everybody to see themselves, right?”
Last year Time Magazine named Pink Cole to their ‘100 Next List”
Pinky Cole has also won the ‘Compassionate Chef Award’, has her own foundation to empower generations of color to break the cycle of poverty, and a new book “I Hope You Fail” to show by example how failures and setbacks are stepping stones in disguise.
Famed restauranteur Danny Meyer, wrote that her fans adore her sassy, sexy attitude and that she not only reinvented the way people think about a vegan restaurant, but she’s also turned classic roadside burger fair into a rollicking party.
It’s worth mentioning that according to the latest statistics only like 5% of Americans identify as vegan or vegetarian, but most people want to eat healthier these days and so many who don’t call themselves vegans or vegetarians are drawn to the food Pinky makes and creates because Pinky makes it fun.
Pinky Cole’s Mission is Powerful
Aisha “Pinky” Cole does everything with intention. She wanted to create food that was accessible to people who are in underserved communities and residents of food deserts that was healthy and comforting and fun, and boy did she nail it. This American restaurateur, operator, and owner of Slutty Vegan, was born and raised in Baltimore. Her parents were Jamaican immigrants and Rastafarians, and her mother was a musician in a reggae group, I probably would have partied with. I love reggae music. Pinky grew up following a traditional Rastafarian vegetarian diet, eating rice and peas and legumes and beans which is how it all began.
The SLUTTY VEGAN Name
After reading all about her I thought I love this girl. But am I really gonna promote a slutty vegan on my show? LOL. Well, everybody else did so sure!
I can tell you for sure that that in order to get attention in this world, the ‘words’ you choose matter.
But Pinky knew that.
“That name helped me to build a $100 million brand. All righty, all righty, all righty. OK, so I’ll start there. Was it easy? Yes and no. The yes part of it being easy was the fact that I’m trained as a television producer, so I know what’s going to make people pay attention. I know what’s going to make them say, oh, damn, I’ve got to pay attention to this, right? But then on the flip side, there are a lot of people, conservative people who live in our country, right, who haven’t adapted to the idea that you can re-engineer words, right? You can put your own meaning to words. And that’s exactly what I did. When I came up with slutty vegan, I knew that I had to be in your face, racy and raunchy in order for you to think about vegan food, because if I would have named it Pinky’s Vegan, you wouldn’t come to get it. You wouldn’t want to eat it. “
The Pinky Cole Foundation is like Urgent Care
Pinky started a foundation to formalize a way to give her money to people who need help because she just loves helping people.
“I found that there’s a generational wealth gap, a big one”, she said. “And I wanted to help bridge that generational wealth gap by providing opportunities for entrepreneurs and creatives. My foundation is not like the average foundation. You know how some foundations have all these thrusts and all of these programmatic things? This ain’t that.”
“What this is, we are like urgent care. If there is an immediate need, we solve an immediate problem. So we paid the rents for local businesses. We provided fruits and vegetables for people in the community. I’ve given out 800 LLCs to a graduating class of seniors so that they could be able to jumpstart their pathway to entrepreneurship. We’ve partnered with the Department of Juvenile Justice to provide second chance opportunities to ex-offenders. We’ve paid for lights. We provide life insurance in partnership with Prudential to black men who make $30,000 or less in Atlanta.”
“So, when you talk about doing the work, I’ve been doing the work for a long time, and yes, business is good. Like burgers, pies, and fries, and helping people to reimagine food is the name of the game. But what we do with the resources and that platform is help people and build a sense of community and collaboration and showing people that we can be a resource to you to be able to follow all your wildest dreams. I believe that that truly is my life’s mission.”
Pretty Amazing Stuff eh? I told you she was a WOW!
Then There’s Her Book: “I Hope You Fail”
Pinky shows by example in her latest book how failures and setbacks are stepping stones in disguise.
“You know, it’s funny, she said. “I did a commencement speech at my alma mater. I was the youngest commencement speaker. The theme was, I hope you fail, and that was the inspiration for the book. I talked about how when I was in college, I was everything. I had every title. I was the head of the sorority. I was all tof he things. I was the queen of the school. Then when I graduated, I couldn’t find a job. Nobody would hire me.
As I maneuvered through life, I realized that life is going to life. Things are going to happen whether we’d like to believe it or not but it’s about how you re-engineer when bad things happen. For me losing my restaurant in Harlem and having a grease fire and my car getting repoed and me losing my apartment, to my wages getting garnished, to getting sued and slutty vegan, a lot of things have happened to me but all of those things that happened did one thing and you know, just the education of it all allowed me to be better when it happened all over again.”
So this book is for the person who’s trying to figure it out that has had things happen to them and don’t know how to get out of that crunch.
Like, we’ve all been at the bottom at some point. But if you re-engineer your mind to think optimistically about when bad things happen, you will be alright. And that’s exactly what this book does.
You’re talking to the choir here. Amen.
Her Message To MOMPRENEURS
“And I just want to say this, I don’t know if you know this, I had a baby in 21, I had another baby in 22 and I had another baby in 23. So not only am I building an empire, I’m a mompreneur. So for all of the women that are listening to this program, I want to encourage you that like nothing is impossible and don’t let anything stop you. You can literally achieve your dreams. I’m doing it in real time. Is it hard? Absolutely, but I make it work and I make it great, and I get to do what I love and be a mom which is what I love as well and do it with a smile. Sometimes a headache but I can do it with a smile.”
You’ll really enjoy meeting Pinky Cole aka “Slutty Vegan” in this podcast of our live conversation on the Debbie Nigro Show.
If you’d rather read than listen the audio transcript is below.
AUDIO TRANSCRIPT:
0:00:00
And now, back to the Debbie Nigro show. Trending Tuesday, Pinky Cole is trending, the slutty vegan, and there’s a thousand reasons why. What an innovative gal and entrepreneur and good human as I have been reading about. And I hope that she’s going to be joining me right now because I’ve been promoting her since yesterday and luckily she’s available today. Let me just give you a little back story. This is National Nutrition Month. What you’re really going to find out from Pinky Cole is you know her intention in her business with this
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0:01:17
chain of celebrity backed restaurants that are vegan is a very powerful mission. She wanted to create food that was accessible to people who are in underserved communities and residents of food deserts that was healthy and comforting and fun and boy did she nail it.
So I believe Pinky Cole is here with me now. Pinky? Hi, how are you? Boy, you are so busy and famous and fabulous and I wasn’t giving up on you I have to tell you. I’m Debbie, it’s nice to meet you. Nice to meet you. I’m a big fan of female entrepreneurs with grit.
Thank you. Yeah, and you did it man and you just your story. I was reading about you on Wikipedia. I was
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0:02:01
like are you kidding me with this girl? It’s Aisha, right? Aisha Pinky Cole, American restaurateur, operator and owner of Slutty Vegan, we’ll get back to that name, but of course I’m sure you use that to stand out in the crowd, right? Born and raised in Baltimore, and I love that your parents, the story that they were Jamaican immigrants and Rastafarians and your mother was a musician in a reggae group, I would have partied with that.
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0:02:25
And you grew up following a traditional Rastafarian vegetarian diet, which is how I’m assuming it all began. Yes?
1
0:02:30
Yeah, that’s how it all began. I grew up eating rice and peas and legumes and beans and everything. I love all that stuff.
You know, I know that according to the latest statistics that only like I don’t know a percentage 5% of Americans identify as vegan or vegetarian I tend to want to eat healthier these days and I know a lot of people who don’t call themselves vegans or vegetarians are drawn to what you make and create and you make it fun. I’m looking at some of your food and I’m like, I got to meet this girl.
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0:03:01
I got to eat here. I want to talk about you’re in New York and why you’re in New York because I know you have some locations here of your 11, one’s in Harlem, one’s in Brooklyn, but I think you have one more coming. I do, and it’s opening on Saturday. Oh, really? Yeah, it is on Bleeker Street, 280 Bleeker Street. And you know, let me tell you something so interesting. I opened my very first restaurant in Harlem, New York,
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0:03:28
and it was a Jamaican restaurant that sold oxtails and curry chicken and goat, all of the things that I did not eat. That’s funny. But what I was really good at was bringing people together. I knew I had that gift. So I did that very well. But I wasn’t selling anything vegan and obviously I wasn’t in alignment with who I was and how I was raised.
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0:03:50
I was raised in a Rastafarian household where I ate a certain kind of food. So I got my chops in New York. So to come back, it’s such a full circle moment to have two successful businesses already and then to be opening my third just tells a story that as long as you continue and don’t give up, literally all the things that you want will work out for you, especially when it comes to a movement that once upon a time was frowned upon and not considered something that people would appreciate.
Yeah, man. I want to just say that I know Danny Meyer, he’s a big name, obviously, in the restaurant business.
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0:04:26
And last year, when Time magazine named you to their 100 next list, he wrote that your myriad of fans adore your sassy, sexy attitude. And that’s not only reinvented the way people think about a vegan restaurant, but also turned classic roadside burger fair into a rollicking party. So I’m like, I love this girl. And I know that in order to get attention in this world,
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0:04:48
you have to stand out. The slutty vegan obviously I’m like do I want to have this slutty girl on my show and then I looked at everybody else who had you I’m like I better hurry up because she’s too famous and that name got you attention right away or did people like I don’t know what she’s talking about here it was kind of like hands up tell me the experience with the brand name?
That name helped me to build a $100 million brand. All righty, all righty, all righty. OK, so I’ll start there.
1
0:05:23
Was it easy? Yes and no. The yes part of it being easy was the fact that I’m trained as a television producer, so I know what’s going to make people pay attention. I know what’s going to make them say, oh, damn, I’ve got to pay attention to this, right? But then on the flip side, there are a lot of people, conservative people who live in
1
0:05:44
our country, right, who haven’t adapted to the idea that you can re-engineer words, right? You can put your own meaning to words. And that’s exactly what I did. When I came up with slutty vegan, I knew that I had to be in your face, racy and raunchy in order for you to think about vegan food, because if I would have named it Pinky’s Vegan, you wouldn’t come to get it. You wouldn’t want to eat it.
2
0:06:04
I know, Pinky. You know what I mean?
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0:06:06
I know. In fact, I had a trademark at one time and the timing was off. It was Still a Babe. It’s an attitude. And I was like, people were like, oh, that’s just, no, no, we don’t want to be called babes. I’m like, no, no, no, it’s a joke, like fun, like Still a Babe. So, you know, I see where words can become a problem if they’re not in the right timing. I think you have very good timing going on right now.
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0:06:27
I love your mission about creating food in underserved communities. Talk a little bit about your foundation because I think that’s meaningful too.
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0:06:34
I have a foundation.
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0:06:35
It’s called the Pinky Co. Foundation. It really was a way just to formalize me giving my money to people who need help because I just love helping people. I found that the gap is there is a generational wealth gap, a big one. And I wanted to help bridge that generational wealth gap by providing opportunities for entrepreneurs and creatives. So my foundation is not like the average foundation. You know how some foundations have all these thrusts
1
0:07:04
and all of these programmatic things? This ain’t that. What this is, we are like urgent care. If there is an immediate need, we solve an immediate problem. So we paid the rents for local businesses. We provided fruits and vegetables for people in the community. I’ve given out 800 LLCs to a graduating class of
1
0:07:39
seniors so that they could be able to jumpstart their pathway to entrepreneurship. That’s incredible. Thank you. I appreciate that. I paid the debt We’ve partnered with the Department of Juvenile Justice to provide second chance opportunities to ex-offenders. We’ve paid for lights. We provide life insurance in partnership with Prudential
1
0:07:50
to black men who make $30,000 or less in Atlanta. So when you talk about doing the work, I’ve been doing the work for a long time, and yes, business is good. Like burgers, pies, and fries, and helping people to reimagine food is the name of the game. But what we do with the resources and that platform is help people and build a sense of community and collaboration and showing people that we can be a resource to you to
1
0:08:14
be able to follow all your wildest dreams. I believe that that truly is my life’s mission. So Lady Vegan was the vessel to get to that mission. You gave me chills with how fabulous you are. Thank you. Really amazing. I’m sure that has a lot to do with you having won the Compassionate Chef Award. Amazing.
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0:08:35
I just want to talk about your book for one second, I Hope You Fail. Great name for a book and I know that you’re showing by example how failures and setbacks are stepping stones in disguise. How’s that book rolling right now? It’s doing well. You know, it’s funny. I did a commencement speech at my alma mater. I was the youngest commencement speaker.
1
0:08:55
The theme was, I hope you fail, and that was the inspiration for the book. I talked about how when I was in college, I was everything. I had every title. I was the head of the sorority. I was all of the things.
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0:09:06
I was the queen of the school.
1
0:09:07
Then when I graduated, I couldn’t find a job. Nobody would hire me. As I maneuvered through life, I realized that life is going to life. Things are going to happen whether we’d like to believe it or not but it’s about how you re-engineer when bad things happen. For me losing my restaurant in Harlem and having a grease fire and my car getting
1
0:09:36
repoed and me losing my apartment, so my wages getting garnished, to getting sued and slutty vegan, a lot of things have happened to me but all of those things that happened did one thing and You know, just the education of it all allowed me to be better when it happened all over again.
So this book is for the mom, the father, the entrepreneur, the person who’s trying to figure it out that has had things happen to them and don’t know how to get out of that crunch. Right. Like, we’ve all been at the bottom at some point.
1
0:09:58
But if you re-engineer your mind to think optimistically about when bad things happen, you will be alright. And that’s exactly what this book does. Yeah, you’re talking to the choir here.
2
0:10:07
I get it. Loud and clear. Yes, I’m all about perseverance in spite of it all. And I would say in spite of it all, which is a fairly big category, right? And by the way, you’re gorgeous and you have terrific smiles. Your presence is loud. And I just wanted to have the opportunity to connect with you and tell everybody else about you. I did not know about you. I want to thank your PR firm for connecting with me to have you on in the New
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0:10:33
York, Connecticut area and beyond because I am beyond. And just shine a light on not only your business but your food is amazing. And the fact that you’re in 11 different places,
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0:10:45
I just want to quickly name, I know you’re in Atlanta. In how many places in Atlanta? In six. Right. Including the Atlanta Brave Stadium I read when you are, when they’re having a game. I’m like, wow, that was good. Yeah.
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0:11:00
Dallas?
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0:11:01
I have Birmingham, Dallas, Baltimore and New York. Yeah.
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0:11:07
And counting. And counting.
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0:11:09
That Bleecker Street is going to be a really great location for you. And do you know, and this is my first time announcing this, Bleeker Street is actually an ode to the LGBTQ community and the movement, right, and LGBTQ rights. So a lot of the decor and the aesthetics will speak to that. And I’m very intentional on my approach and how I decorate my stores because I want everybody to see themselves, right?
1
0:11:36
When you walk into Sleaty Vegan, you will see yourself. It doesn’t matter if you are white, black, blue, yellow, gay, straight, you belong here and this is a safe space for you and I want my business to continue to speak for that. So Bleeker will speak to all of those things and I’m excited about it and I’m excited about our expansion. And I just want to say this, I don’t know if you know this, I had a baby in 21, I had another baby in 22 and I had another baby in 23. So not only am I building an empire, I’m a mompreneur.
1
0:12:06
So for all of the women that are listening to this program, I want to encourage you that like nothing is impossible and don’t let anything stop you. You can literally achieve your dreams. I’m doing it in real time. Is it hard? Absolutely, but I make it work and I make it great and I get to do what I love and be a mom which is what I love as well and do it with a smile. Sometimes a headache but I can do it with a smile.
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0:12:28
So be encouraged if you’re listening to this program and you’re a mom in business.
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0:12:32
I’m gonna vote for you if you run for anything.
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0:12:35
You know, people tell me I should run for mayor. I’m like, I got to run sooner or later.
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0:12:37
Son of a gun.
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0:12:38
Or I’ll fold over well.
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0:12:39
You got my vote. I don’t even care what you, whatever you’re running for, I’m voting for you. You know, it’s funny, I wrote, I had a whole career that took a phase of my life called The Working Mom on the Run or What the Heck Happened in My Life and I was very much intentional to support
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0:12:51
working moms because one day I was driving around back in the day when nobody was talking about this and I was like, hello, this is insane, like can anybody get this done? And wherever you are as a mom, you think you’re supposed to, if you’re working, you feel like you’re supposed to be working and when you’re working, you’re supposed to be with your kids and I thought it was a no-win situation, but I wanted to give power and encouragement to great women with big brains and also big hearts so you can do it all but it ain’t gonna be easy and you’re
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0:13:17
The example of doing it all but it ain’t gonna be easy. So I just wish you the best of everything
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0:13:22
Thank you. Really and I appreciate you having me on the program if you’re listening to this and you want to learn more about me You can follow me slutty vegan ATL and all social media handles and my personal page is pinky coal and all I do is drop nuggets and wisdom and motivation. So if you’re looking to get motivated come find me Yeah, I will be here I have an idea for you and I’m just gonna throw it out because you know I’m a crazy entrepreneur too, and I I work with so many founders and CEOs whose companies I admire to make new idea You know, they’re like wow, I didn’t see that coming would you ever consider because it’s a great marketing tool putting photo booths in your restaurants to
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0:13:59
Support and have the proceeds go to the foundation to support your foundation.
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0:14:04
I was thinking that might be an interesting thing for you.
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0:14:06
You know, that is a great idea. I actually have a photo booth in one of my locations, but I will actually use that for my foundation. So, thank you for that. Yeah, I’m going to get in touch with you after the show because I want to introduce you to somebody who can make that happen. Lickety Split for you. Oh, please.
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0:14:23
My friend is the world’s largest photo booth manufacturer.
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0:14:28
Oh wow.
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0:14:29
Right? Yes, yes and yes. All right. We’re going to get the connection.
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0:14:33
All right, beautiful. Hey, Pinky Cole, a.k.a. Slutty Vegan, one of the 20 most influential vegans and owner-operator of the Celebrity Back Restaurant chain with all these locations, the newest one coming to Bleaker Street in New York, a very special woman who does incredible work on this planet for so many others. Have a great day, stay healthy and take a for so many others. Have a great day, stay healthy and take a
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0:14:53
break and rest once in a while, okay? Will do. Thank you so much, Tussie. Ciao. Bye-bye.
Transcribed with Cockatoo
