Slutty Vegan

Black-owned vegan fast-food spot, Slutty Vegan, is well-loved by locals and celebrities alike. This week, Lala Anthony, Ludacris, Chris Paul, and Gabrielle Union-Wade have teamed up to buy out the restaurant’s offerings for a day, when “free food will be [given away] in support of Pinky Cole’s business, and her community impact.”

Today, Tuesday, June 30th, the Atlanta location will be free all day thanks to the generosity of these celebs, who rallied around the founder Pinky Cole after her establishment was targeted and false online reviews claiming negative experiences were posted in response to her charitable deed a couple of days ago.

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Last week, Cole decided to set up college funds alongside Clark Atlanta University for the children Rayshard Brooks, a Black Atlanta resident who was fatally shot by police at a Wendy’s on June 12th. Brooks is survived by four kids, who range in age from 1-years old to 13-years old. These college funds will cover the full cost of tuition and room and board for each of his children and are valued at $600,000 each.

Cole’s generous deed received praise online, but also quickly became a target of a negative online harassment campaign, as “Slutty Vegan’s Yelp and Google Business pages became inundated with false and negative reviews along with one-star ratings, claiming they had poor experiences at the establishment.”

In response to this, loyal customers quickly came to Cole’s rescue, flooding the Yelp and Google Business pages with accurate, positive reviews, receiving over 18,000 positive Google reviews within a 72-hour time span.

To add to this push for positivity, a press release announced celebrities were also rallying around Cole: “This free food giveaway is LaLa Anthony, Ludacris, Gabrielle Union-Wade, and Chris Paul’s way of standing behind the popular brand that has done so much for the community since it’s inception in 2018.

Source: The Beet

Related: Meet the Owner of Slutty Vegan, Atlanta’s Hottest Vegan Spot

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What do you get when you mix the growing popularity of vegan food with brilliant marketing and a great product? A line of people, several blocks deep, outside your business on opening day. This is the “problem” that Atlanta’s newest vegan eatery, Slutty Vegan had when it opened on January 14th.

We reached out to owner Pinky Cole to find out more about her and her business.

What inspired you to start Slutty Vegan?

Slutty vegan was created summer of 2018 in my small two-bedroom apartment. I was lying in bed late in the evening and had a serious hankering for vegan junk food.

At the time, there was no place here in Atlanta at had what I needed. I figured it was time to satisfy that need. Boom! Slutty Vegan came to life.

What has been the most challenging and the most gratifying thing about owning a business thus far?

Since its creation, like all businesses, Slutty Vegan has run into its fair share of challenges. Most challenging, surprisingly, has been keeping up with the demand from the city.

Because of our sensational growth, we have had to learn how to grow at an exponential rate while making sure we have excellent customer service and every customer is satisfied.

However great this difficulty, we appreciate and love the community support. Interestingly enough, that challenge has been one of the most gratifying aspects. Imagine me, a young single mom from Baltimore jump-starting the vegan movement here in Atlanta!

Tha crazy growth has been nothing short of inspiring and the pleasure I get knowing the culture and health shift I’m at the forefront of is so humbling. I am so thankful for the opportunity and pressure.

In the past 5 years, what new belief, behavior, or habit has most improved your life?

Having faith and striving to attain goals that previously, I would have been afraid would have failed. In the past 5 years, my prayer life has shifted my outlook, perspective, and approach to life. Prayer has removed said fear and I can step out of faith regardless of imminent outcome. “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t shoot.”

What is one thing about you that may surprise most people?

I think it surprises people that I’m truly an HBCU ride or die regular or maybe not so regular girl.

I attended Clark Atlanta University where I pledged, pageanted, and excelled. Atlanta has truly adopted me, and most would even think I’m from here; sometimes it even feels like that.

What advice do you have for aspiring entrepreneurs?

If I had to give any advice to aspiring entrepreneurs, it would be to write every idea and thought down and to stay consistent and persistent. Most small businesses take years to see a profit and the millennial generation is microwave and expects overnight success.

Generally, this won’t happen, and successful businesses are grown from “long game thinking.” Understanding and planning for long term success and preparing yourself to be persistent on the journey there will make the difference.

Where do you see your business in 5 years?

In 5 years, I see Slutty vegan country-wide providing vegan experiences in communities where they would have otherwise never had that opportunity. We are here for the community.