Sullivan Anderson 
Electrifying was barely the word to describe the atmosphere in Markham this past Saturday. Slutty Vegan, a Black-owned vegan fast food restaurant, truly lit the city with a fire of excitement as it hosted a pop-up food truck this weekend. As many as 1,000 attendees waited in long lines for hours just to get a taste of the burgers made famous by owner Pinky Cole Hayes.
“Markham is more than elated about it,” Roger Agpawa, Mayor of Markham, told True Star. “We all benefit, and certainly the food is good!” Mayor Agpawa added, “[Slutty Vegan] is a healthy option, and it’s something we, as a people, need more of in our communities. It’s about having a good, vibrant lifestyle.”
There were three items on the menu: the One Night Stand, a plant-based patty loaded with Slutty Strips of vegan bacon, vegan cheese, onions, lettuce, tomato, and Slut Sauce on a vegan Hawaiian bun; the Sloppy Toppy, a plant-based patty loaded with jalapeños, vegan cheese, onions, lettuce, tomato, and Slut Sauce on a vegan Hawaiian bun, and finally, the Fussy Hussy, also a plant-based patty loaded with pickles, vegan cheese, onions, lettuce, tomato, and Slut Sauce all on a vegan Hawaiian bun. Genius marketing, remarkable impact.
Cole Hayes is a Black-woman entrepreneur – the Beyoncé among entrepreneurs. Slutty Vegan is not her first business venture. She opened her first restaurant in New York in 2014 after being in television production for years. The Harlem staple, Pinky’s Jamaican and American, thrived until her hard work went up in flames in 2016 – without restaurant insurance. After returning back to the television production industry for a few years to get her head back above water, she ventured back out into her dreams and opened Slutty Vegan in 2018, and the rest has been history.
“I think she is an example of being bold and unapologetic,” Keeana Barber, founder and CEO of WDB Marketing Group (a Black-woman owned marketing and printing company) told TS. They completed the signage for the event. “I remember when she first came out, and I was like, ‘Slutty Vegan? Okay, okay, that’s edgy,’” she stated. “And you see where she’s at now… I don’t even think it’s been five years, and she has multiple locations. Her brand is going crazy.”
Indeed, her brand has captured American hearts and tugged at their pockets. Pinky is the true definition of what it means to keep going, keep pushing, and not letting dreams die, regardless of how much hard work it takes. We can all rip a page or two from her book, (literally, it’s called I Hope You Fail: Ten Hater Statements Holding You Back From Getting Everything You Want) and apply it to our own lives. Until then, keep doing you, Pinky. We’re rooting for you.
Check out this video below with True Star’s Marquis Sewell for more about the Slutty Vegan pop-up.
By Sullivan Anderson, North Carolina A&T State University Alumna
Instagram: @SullivanGrace_
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