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As the owner of the chain of vegan restaurants Torn vegan – and a former TV producer – Pinky Cole knows the value of attracting attention. After all, her restaurant's menu includes items like Slutty Fries and a Vega The Fussy Hussy Burger.
Cole's authenticity and genuine connection with the audience have been central to Slutty Vegan's success. She believes people aren't just buying her meatless masterpieces — they're buying her story, personality and mission.
“People can feel the authenticity, (and) that's given me a lot of success in my career,” Cole says. Shawn Walchefhost of Restaurant influencers.
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from The Maury Show the manufacturer to the founder of a buzzed-for restaurant brandshe has made her way and triumphed through adversity.
“One thing I know how to do is bring people together,” Cole says. “I know how to connect people. I know how to meet people where they are.”
Cole's road to entrepreneurial triumph was not without its hard turns and steep climbs, some seemingly insurmountable. However, it stands today at the head of a brand worth 100 million dollars.
The challenges are one of the many reasons Cole published her second book, I hope you failin the year 2023. She emphasized that embracing failure and the things we cannot control can be a catalyst for growth.
“I hope you fail because it's in those moments of failure that real growth and success can be found,” she says. “I want you to do this every day. I want you to fall flat on your face. I want you to hit speed. I want you to get in a pickle. I want it to look like it's not going to work because it what it does is it adds a layer of texture to the story you're writing in real time.”
Cole's belief in failure power comes from her own experience: In 2016, her first restaurant, a Jamaican place in New York, burned down.
“I was devastated, man,” she says. “And I've never claimed depression in my life, but it felt like a depression… I felt like a failure. I'm not someone who fails. I'm too ambitious for that. But losing a restaurant was out of my control, and everyone knows that when you're an entrepreneur and you're not in control, it bothers you.”
But you can't fail when you don't give up.
After the fire that reduced so much hard work to ashes, Cole experienced an important moment of clarity.
“It was the best thing that could have happened to me because it really redirected my energy to focus on something else,” she says. “If it wasn't for that fire, it probably never would have happened.”
That's when Slutty Vegan came to life. Cole describes inspiration as a “moment of the bulb“, coming at her from a haze of weed smoke in her tiny apartment.
“Now, here I am with one of the hottest concepts in the country and I'm proud of it,” she says. “Has it been easy? No. It's been a few days, I won't lie to you. I don't want to do this anymore. This is difficult.”
A critical lesson Cole has learned is the importance of focusing on talent and building a strong team instead of following the money. She credits her two longest-tenured employees, Angel and Miesha, as the “left brain and right brain” of her business. It is not a person who runs a business; it takes a team.
“Talent is so necessary to the growth and success of a business, and you absolutely need to get people who are smarter than you, who are as hungry, if not hungrier than you, and who have the same morals and mentality like you. don't have it, it won't work,'' says Cole.
In addition to her determination and unwavering willingness to take risks, Cole has also recognized the crucial role that MEDIA and public relations have played a role in her entrepreneurial success.
“If you don't have a publicist, you're going backwards,” she says. “You need someone who's going to be able to showcase and amplify your brand. You need someone who's going to talk about all the giveaways you do and the new menu items you have.”
When the chain first came to Brooklyn in 2022, people camped out to try it. This could not happen without spreading the word.
“The media is my friend,” says Cole. “A lot of people don't realize that a publicist can get you in…all the trade magazines so the people who need to see it can see it.”
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