Pinky Cole Hayes Says 2025 Was The ‘Roughest Year’ Of Her Life, But That Hasn’t Stopped Her From Aspiring To Turn Slutty Vegan Into A Billion-Dollar Company – AfroTech

After more than a decade as an entrepreneur, resilience defines Pinky Cole Hayes’ testimony.

In 2014, she launched a restaurant in Harlem, NY, called Pinky’s Jamaican and American Restaurant at a time when she didn’t know “the first thing about business,” she admitted on “Sway’s Universe.” The venture attracted lines of customers down the block. However, a grease fire caused her to lose her entire restaurant.

Slutty Vegan

But, it didn’t diminish her spirit. Her next foray was Slutty Vegan, a plant-based fast-food chain founded in 2018 that currently has about six locations, including in her hometown of Baltimore. In 2022, the company was valued at nearly $100 million following a $25 million Series A funding round.

The venture led to locations on the campuses of Georgia Institute of Technology and Spelman College, as well as in Texas — all of which have since closed. As AFROTECH™ previously reported, Cole Hayes was tested to the limit by several challenges, including accruing $20 million in debt and spending $100,000 per week, ultimately leading the business to enter global restructuring on Feb. 13, 2025.

“Now my testimony is not ‘I just built Slutty Vegan, a hundred-million-dollar brand.’ My testimony is ‘I’m showing entrepreneurs what resilience looks like,’” she told AFROTECH™.

Reflections On Buying Back The Business

As part of the restructuring, Cole Hayes temporarily lost control of the business. A month later, she regained ownership under a new parent company, Ain’t Nobody Coming to See You, Otis LLC.

“When we talk about buying a company back that has already been established as a hundred-million-dollar brand, but buying it back without a big engine that you once had when you were identified as a hundred-million-dollar brand is not an easy feat,” she explained. “You gotta get in the trenches, you gotta get in the dirt.

“I’ve had the roughest year of my life in 2025 Q1 through Q3,” she later added. “I’ve had to navigate buying a company back and being a new hire in my own business, figuring out who I want my organization to be to the world, identifying problems and finding solutions at the same time, and still keeping that representation and the reputation of a hundred-million-dollar-brand without all of the added resources and the engine…. For the entrepreneurs that are watching this, sometimes you have to take a step back, and you have to go back to that garden and plant new seeds. And now as I walk into 2026, I’m going to be watering the garden, and the garden gonna be looking really good.”

In further reflection, Cole Hayes also admits that entrepreneurship is flawed and that there isn’t a rulebook. Each day is a new opportunity to reset, recreate, and improve, which can come with its challenges. Now, she sees entrepreneurship as a spiritual practice, understanding that for her it’s only by God’s grace that she can withstand.

Winning Team

As the new year approaches, Cole Hayes said she is hopeful about 2026. She is supported by Shawntel Daniels, who brings experience spanning sales and operations and previously served as an executive at Planet Fitness and 7-Eleven. Daniels joined Slutty Vegan in August 2025 as franchise president, according to vegconomist.

Juan Edgerton was also brought on as franchise director. He is the founder of Peach Cobbler Factory, which has more than 100 locations nationwide, his Instagram states.

Cole Hayes said she is satisfied with assembling a team of leaders who not only understand the business but also have the resumes to prove it and are willing to “get in the trenches” for the betterment and long-term success of the brand.

“I’m excited about 2026 and Slutty Vegan,” she expressed. “I’m excited about what the future has to hold for my brand because we’ve been doing a lot of restructuring on paper, and off paper we’ve been a lot. We’ve been doing a lot of strategizing and skinning down and stripping away the dead weight so that we can hone in on the focus of scaling this brand to a billion-dollar company.”

She continued, “So I’m excited about walking into this new year. I’m excited about all of the changes, the good changes that are happening, and I’m utilizing the not so good changes as opportunities to really understand my business better and just to become a better entrepreneur.”

Lion CIAA Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championship Tournament

Another milestone Cole Hayes looks forward to is her return home in a new role. She will serve as the official ambassador for the 2026 Food Lion CIAA Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championship Tournament, which will take place Feb. 24–28, 2026, at CFG Bank Arena in Baltimore. She will be tasked with inspiring the students, alumni, and the city of Baltimore, the very place she says taught her “to get off the step.” That move set her on the path to earning her degree at Clark Atlanta University, entering the television industry, and ultimately stepping into entrepreneurship.

“So to be an ambassador for the CIAA (Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association) is not just a title. It’s not just ‘Oh Pinky is going to be the face of CIAA for 2026.’ It is the evidence of what getting off the step looks like. It is the evidence that hard work, grit, and confidence will reward you in a way that eyes have not seen,” Cole Hayes said. “And a part of being rewarded is coming back to the city that raised me, that gave me my chops, to represent it with a badge of honor and pride for this amazing event. And I could not be prouder, and I pray that the city of Baltimore is proud of me because I’ve done a lot of great things in my time, but it’s a whole other thing when you can make your city proud. So I’m happy that I get to do that.”

You can secure your ticket for the game at CIAATournament.org.