Pinky Cole attributes much of her success as a restaurateur to the knowledge she gained while working as a producer on the "Maury" talk show with Maury Povich.

Cole worked as a producer on the infamously raunchy talk show from 2013 to 2015 before starting her Slutty Vegan franchise. Povich was known for transforming significant life events into a television format resembling a game show, notably through his on-air paternity test revelations.

She employed techniques she learned on “Maury” to grow Slutty Vegan.

“If I [can] get you psychologically locked in, I can educate you in whatever it is I want to educate you on. And that is exactly what I did with Slutty Vegan,” she told Page Six at the Time 100 Next gala Oct. 24. “What I realized is you have to punch some people in the faces with the information to make them pay attention.”

Cole left her job on Maury to focus on her first restaurant, Pinky’s Jamaican and American Restaurant, which opened in 2014 in Harlem. A fire burned Pinky’s down in 2016, but Cole made a comeback with Slutty Vegan in 2018.

“I combined sex and food, which are the two most pleasurable experiences and got people excited about veganism in a world where once upon a time it was not cool,” she said.

Named “one of Atlanta’s buzziest eateries with its saucy take on vegan fast food,” her unconventional marketing strategy attracts a slew of celebrity customers from Tyler Perry to Taraji P. Henson to Megan Thee Stallion. She expanded her business by opening more locations in Harlem, Brooklyn and Baltimore.

In May 2023, Forbes reported that the Slutty Vegan restaurant franchise had a $100 million valuation.

Cole was recognized in the Phenom category at the Time 100 Next event for her efforts in educating people in underserved areas about nutrition. Honorees included Tyler James Williams, Jalen Hurts, Kali Uchis and Tems.