pcole24@nul.org
Speaker Bio
"Pinky" Cole Hayes is a Jamaican-American restaurateur, author, community activist, and owner of the Slutty Vegan restaurant chain and Bar Vegan in Atlanta, Georgia. Cole Hayes is a culinary disruptor in the industry, transforming America's view of plant-based fast food and striving to make plant-based eating delicious, accessible, and enjoyable for vegans and flexitarians alike.
In addition to her work in the food industry, Pinky is also a philanthropist and head of The Pinky Cole Foundation, which is committed to uplifting marginalized and underrepresented communities and breaking the cycle of poverty by providing access to resources and education to pursue their entrepreneurial goals. Pinky has been named to Restaurant Hospitality’s 2021 Power List, Forbes Next 1000, Entrepreneur Magazine’s Top 100 Powerful Women in Business List, LA Wire Influential Women of 2020, PETA’s 2021 Most Beautiful Vegan Celebrities List and Atlanta Business Chronicle’s 40 Under 40 List. Most recently, she has been included in the 2023 TIME100 Next List.
In November 2022, Cole Hayes released her first cookbook, Eat Plants, B*tch — a compilation of 91 vegan recipes plus a selection of tips and tricks for vegan cooking and other plant-based substitutes — that is now available for purchase online and at bookstores across the country. Pinky’s latest book with HarperCollins Leadership called I Hope You Fail (October 10 release), that details how her failures have driven her successes. To learn more about Pinky Cole-Hayes, visit iampinkycole.com and follow @pinkycole on Instagram and @pinky907 on X (formerly Twitter).