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    Pinky Cole on Building Slutty Vegan, Losing It All, and Bouncing Back | Eating While Broke On this episode of Eating While Broke, host Coline Witt sits down with entrepreneur Pinky Cole—founder of Slutty Vegan—for an honest conversation about money, mindset, and rebuilding after major setbacks. Over a homemade "Tofurky sandwich", Pinky breaks down vegan label-reading, food costs, and why she stopped eating meat in 2007. Pinky shares her upbringing in a Jamaican family, her father’s 22-year imprisonment, and how early exposure to her mother’s music career shaped her ambition. She recounts hustling as a teen party promoter, working in TV production (including Maury), and opening a Harlem Jamaican restaurant that later burned down without fire insurance. She explains how that loss—and other setbacks—ultimately led to new opportunities, including launching "Slutty Vegan" in Atlanta. She also discusses Slutty Vegan’s rapid rise, later restructuring, personal bankruptcy, $20M in debt, and the lessons she learned about transactional relationships, team alignment, and ego. Pinky closes by sharing details on franchising, training through “Slutty University,” and her book "I Hope You Fail." Chapters 00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro 00:41 Vegan Grocery Label Lessons 04:14 Why Pinky Went Vegan 08:27 Tofurky Sandwich Taste Test 12:51 Family Roots and Mindset 17:04 Business Pain and “No Friends” 20:20 Early Hustles and Big Dreams 24:19 From Graduation to Maury 24:57 Recession Move to Houston 25:37 Airport Breakdown Lesson 26:56 Starting Over in LA 28:52 TV Hustle to Maury 31:55 Jamaican Restaurant Rise 32:48 Fire Loss and Rebuild 35:42 Slutty Vegan Spark 38:39 Fired Then Celebrity Boost 39:55 Bankruptcy and Team Lessons 45:24 Franchise Plans and Book 48:52 Final Plugs and Goodbye Tag Words: Pinky Cole, Slutty Vegan, Pinky Cole interview, Slutty Vegan founder, Slutty Vegan Atlanta, vegan entrepreneur, Black woman entrepreneur, restaurant entrepreneur, food business startup, business comeback story, bankruptcy to success, personal finance journey, Eating While Broke, Coline Witt, Real Housewives of Atlanta
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