In 2016, Aisha "Pinky" Cole's Jamaican-American eatery in New York City's Harlem neighborhood went up in flames.
A grease fire destroyed the restaurant. Cole says her inexperience as an entrepreneur put the nail in the coffin. The damage from the fire wasn't covered by the proper form of insurance, leaving her sifting through the rubble of a failed business venture, trying to figure out what went wrong and – more importantly – what she could improve next time.
What a difference six years can make. Today, the 34-year-old is a cookbook author, philanthropist and owner of the buzzy Atlanta-based vegan hamburger chain Slutty Vegan, which opened in 2018. The restaurant's four locations draw long lines and a loyal following – vegans and meat-eaters alike – with that provocative name, a vibrant atmosphere and an ethos that taps into Atlanta's strong Black cultural connections.
Its popularity also comes from Cole's efforts to give back to the city's Black community through her nonprofit, the Pinky Cole Foundation. Put it all together, she says, and people flock to Slutty Vegan for the food, the sense of community and Cole herself.
"I'm a young, Black woman who's movin' and shakin', and has a story of tribulation and triumph," Cole tells CNBC Make It. "People appreciate that. And people can see themselves in me."
Cole's goal is to make Slutty Vegan a billion-dollar brand within just the next few years. It'll take some serious work: Slutty Vegan made between $10 million and $14 million in 2021 revenue, according to a CNBC Make It estimate, and most billion-dollar businesses make at least $100 million in annual revenue. (Cole declined to confirm Slutty Vegan's annual revenue.)
Still, she's nothing but confident. "You've got a great story. You've got great food," Cole says. "Why wouldn't people want to support that?"
Healthy and vegan – but make it a party
Cole, a Baltimore native, says she's always been a "hustler" – a quality she inherited from her father, who went to prison for his role in a Baltimore drug ring around the time she was born, and spent more than two decades behind bars. "It wasn't legal, but he was a big-time entrepreneur," Cole says.
It took Cole a while to figure out what shape her dream of owning a billion-dollar business could take. A veteran television producer who cashed out her 401K and took a loan from a family friend to open her New York City eatery in 2014, Cole returned to the world of TV as a producer and casting director for more than two years after the fire.
