Pinky Cole Hayes joins BOSSIP’s celebration of Black Business Month and opens up about changing the game while transforming herself in this era of evolution. In addition to a flourishing family and rapidly expanding empire, Cole Hayes is making headlines for taking the “Pinky Effect” to a new collaboration.
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Last month, REVOLT revealed Pinky Cole Hayes as the inaugural Creative Visionary in Residence. According to REVOLT CEO Detavio Samuels, the $100 million mogul “will bring her proven expertise as both a world-class innovator and operator to imagine new ways the brand can empower creators while advancing the culture.”
“Pinky has always been committed to making a positive impact on Black communities and building successful brands in unconventional spaces, which perfectly aligns with our values and makes us look forward to the transformative work we’re doing together,” said Samuels in a statement.
In an exclusive interview, the Slutty Vegan founder and CEO tells BOSSIP about creating the Creative Visionary in Residence role at Revolt, “snapping back” to business after three babies, and the future she sees for Black women bosses like Vice President Kamala Harris.
Source: Sydney Foster / Getty
We’ve just begun Black Business Month, so you’re the lady of the hour to speak to. Your name has become synonymous with creative and visionary leadership, but how did this inaugural REVOLT Creative Visionary In Residence come about?
It’s interesting because I did a podcast with Detavio with my then boyfriend, Derrick, and I was sitting and I’m like, ‘Detavio, I got this great idea. We need to do a residency program where I come in and I help with big ideas.’ And he was sold on it at the moment that I said it, and he was like, “I love it. I got to work through it logistically, but let’s keep talking. Let’s make it work.”
And then months later here we are, I’m in the role. I am the first person ever to be in this role, which I’m excited about because I’m almost like the guinea pig, but I also get to come up with the really great big ideas and then show the world what creatives can do.
So I’m excited to partner with REVOLT. REVOLT is already a great platform, and I get to give them my crazy big ideas so that they can execute on their main stages and in their network and really set the tone for the next person that will come after me.
And speaking of setting the tone, how does this exciting collaboration with REVOLT fit into your larger legacy that you’ve built across so many platforms and businesses?
I want to be known as the Pinky Effect. You don’t have to put yourself in one box. If I want to be a singer, I’m going to do that. If I want to be a creative visionary in residence for REVOLT, I want to do that. If I want to own a multi-million dollar burger empire, I’m going to do that.
If I want to have a collective collaborative space for entrepreneurs and creatives, I should be able to do that all while being a mother, all while being a wife, all while being a CEO, and I shouldn’t have to limit the things that I love to do just because society tells you that you have to stay in one space. That’s what I want people to remember.
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The announcement mentions that you’ll be helping creators with developing ideas. What are some of the keys you’ve learned about turning a good idea into a great and successful idea?
Well, you got to pay attention to all the things that could possibly go wrong and work through those things first. So when I come up with an idea, I’m thinking about I need to show myself all the ways that it won’t work and then reverse-engineer it and dissect it and find the solutions to those problems so then I make it bulletproof and I know that this thing will work because I went through every single avenue of roadblock.
And I think that that’s kind of the methodology of how you should approach coming up with new ideas that could end up being executed in places like REVOLT and other great opportunities. So just reverse-engineering what the creative idea is and making sure that you find all the holes and all the speed bumps and seal them so that you can have a bulletproof idea.
So you support, motivate, and help empower other creators and entrepreneurs with ventures like the Creative Visionary In Residence with REVOLT and the American Sesh series with your husband, Derrick Hayes. What helps keep you motivated and inspired as a creative and an entrepreneur?
The fact that I don’t want to end up as a Netflix documentary. I’m kidding, but I’m telling the truth. I got so much riding on me, it’s a lot of pressure. I can’t fail, I can’t lose. There’s so many people that are believing in me, expecting me to win, because they see me still striving in the midst of all of my obstacles. So it’s bigger than just me at this point.
So I am the quintessential example of entrepreneurship, Black woman entrepreneurship, woman entrepreneurship, entrepreneurship and being a mother at the same time, being a wife and an entrepreneur, right? Being somebody from an inner-city community, being the descendants of Jamaicans as an entrepreneur. So I check every single freaking box.
So what motivates me is the fact that there is a Mercedes-Benz Arena stadium of people that are rooting for me and some people that are not rooting for me, but nonetheless, they’re still in the room. And I got to make sure that I’m showing up every single step of the way because I may come as one, but I stand as 10,000. It may just look like me, but there’s so many other people behind me. And the decisions that I make as an entrepreneur in this journey will affect every single person that will come behind me.
You mentioned identities that aren’t always considered the face of business leaders and success as a mother, as a woman, a Black woman. What do you say to people feeling fear between them and their dream because they don’t think they look like the conventional picture of success?
That’s what makes you qualified, because you don’t look like the picture of success. The most successful people in the world, what does success look like? Success ain’t got no look.
The people who don’t fit the bill are the most uniquely created in divinity that they have the ability to separate themselves and stand apart from the crowd and be super unique so that they can make this stamp in whatever industry that they’re in.
One thing about me is I pay attention to things that look different from the norm, and I think everybody else does, right? And those are the special pieces.
Listen, when I started, I had locs down to my behind and I’m a vegan and I’m thick, and I’m married to a non-vegan. I don’t fit none of the check marks that society says that I should fit, but guess what? I’m doing it in the most authentic way. I’m humble.
Continue reading about Pinky Cole Hayes building an empire with a growing family, facing failure, and advice from six years of Slutty Vegan Success after the flip.
Pinky Cole Hayes Talks Snapping Back To Business After Babies, Kamala Harris Making History, And Her Secret To Six Years Of Slutty Vegan Success
Source: Sydney Foster / Getty
Going back to your journey as both a mother and an entrepreneur, I noticed your fitness progress video after having your youngest child last year. We are always celebrating the physical snapback stories, but what helped you mentally snap back into business mode and maintain the incredible momentum you have while having these young children in addition to this growing empire of yours?
Who said I snapped back? I’m still snapping, I am still snapping, okay? Some days are harder than others, some days are easier than others. But the most important, let me tell you, in this season, what I have learned is waking up is a gift. It’s the little things that I pay attention to now when the world is so busy and there’s so much happening around me, I’m like, “Listen, I woke up this morning.”
And a lot of people didn’t get that opportunity to do that. So I’m going to be grateful for that because that’s probably the biggest milestone of the day. And as long as I can achieve that milestone, I can live to fight another day. That is my mindset, and that’s what keeps me alive and thriving and growing even in the hardest times.
And this spring, you and Derrick Hayes, collaborated with another trailblazer and HBCU alumna, Vice President Kamala Harris, highlighting the financial resources that are available for individuals and small-business owners to support themselves. Now she could make history again as our next President. How has the game changed for women leaders like yourselves since you got started as an entrepreneur?
We have always been the backbone. We have always been the nurturers. We’ve always been the divinity of femininity. We have always been the encouragers, the empowerers, the fixers, right? And I’m not talking about with our hands, we’ve been emotional fixers, mental fixers, the spiritual fixers.
So we have done the work even when we weren’t permitted to be in rooms to do it. You know how they say, “I got a praying grandmother”? My ancestors are praying for me, and they not even physically in the room.
So having Madam VP in this position, I actually was at her house the day before she made the announcement, which is so dope. Having the opportunity in my lifetime to see so many things, I mean, let’s go down the list. I have lived through the first Black President of the United States of America. I have lived through the first Black woman Vice President of the United States of America.
And now I have the opportunity to have life and breath, and my children can see the first Black woman president, the first woman President of the United States of America. When you think about it, every single genre of every industry has always been dominated by men. Right? And throughout the years, women have broken through those industries. But the one industry we could never break through is what?
The president. Being in office. So now we here and it’s so close you can taste it. I know I’m going deep, but it’s beyond just blue and red, right? This is beyond that. This is really game-changing for the trajectory of how we are as an ecosystem of people and how we show up and really show what equality really looks like and opportunity really looks like.
Having a woman run this country when once upon a time women couldn’t even… But I’m sorry, I’m a little passionate about this because in my mind-
… I can’t even, I see it and I’m like, “I’m living through this. I’m going to tell my children’s children, and my children are going to tell their children that mommy and grandma took three pictures with the president, the woman President of the United States. She even went to her house. She even got to exchange dialogue with somebody who is going to change the world in real time.”
So I’m proud of that. I’m happy about it. She had a perfect running mate if you ask my opinion. And I ain’t even into politics but I’m like, “Damn, he done been a teacher. He was a social worker, he military, he the governor, he’s all of the things, and then you got a Black woman. It don’t get no better than that.”
What more progress do you hope to see as we’re on this precipice of such a major change?
I hope that entrepreneurs will get some money and continue to grow their businesses. The economy is the hardest it’s ever been right now, and entrepreneurs are struggling more than they’ve ever been. I mean, we see the stock market has crashed, we see businesses are closing.
I was just looking on the internet the other day, I mean today, and two businesses got evicted and all of their stuff was on the side of the street and you just saw all of these people walking up, picking their stuff up. But they got evicted because they can’t afford to keep their doors open. For the most popular restaurants to the unpopular ones. It’s hard out here for a parent when you’re trying to get the money for the rent, okay? It’s hard.
I’m looking forward for some relief for entrepreneurs. I think that it’s time they need it. We need another 2020, 2021 without COVID. Bring back 2020, ’21, but you can leave COVID.
With that initial momentum from 2020 dying down in the years since, what would you recommend to people dealing with struggles or even what feels like a failure in this moment? In addition to your book, I Hope You Fail, what would you tell them to move forward?
It ain’t over until God say it’s over. And you just got to keep going. And it’s important to keep your spirit high. And I’m talking to myself too, because sometimes I be feeling defeated, I’m like, “Ooh, I don’t know.” But I know that as long as you maintain a good spirit and a positive mindset, then that karmic energy is going to follow you no matter how bad it looks. Yeah, that’s what I would say.
And speaking of persevering and pushing through, congratulations on Slutty Vegan’s sixth anniversary.
It’s funny, I work so much, there’s so much going on I didn’t get to appreciate it like I wanted to. However, I did gift my day ones one of my locations. So I’m excited about that. I’m excited for change and elevation and growth in the season. This is a clarifying season for me. And I’m just excited about what is to come and what the future looks like.
You mentioned a season of growth and change. You and your husband used to have these lovely locs that you’ve both cut. What advice do you have for embracing change to part of your brand or identity personally, but also in your business, making a drastic shift like cutting those locs of yours?
Change is always uncomfortable, but it opens the door for something new. And if you can embrace the newness of it all, the thing that you’re leaving behind won’t hurt as much. And that’s in your personal life, your professional life, with friends, with family.
When I cut my hair I was numb. I cried the first time when I cut it from the bottom of my back to above. But then when I let it all go, I’m like, “You know what? It’s new me. It’s a new day and a new age. And as long as my husband like it and I’m happy with myself, then I’ll be good. And I’m proud of the new me and what’s to come.”
After your six years of success with Slutty Vegan and all the incredible things that have come after that, what would you tell someone starting out now that you wish you had known six years ago when this journey was beginning?
What I wish I knew. Always strike while the iron is hot. When your iron is hot, make sure you strike. I don’t care what you got going on, make sure you strike while the iron is hot.
And that might mean a lot of different things to a lot of different people, but when your iron is hot, you got to make sure you strike, because iron don’t always stay hot.
That might’ve went over some people head, but metaphorically, the iron don’t always stay hot, but when it’s hot, you better strike. And when you strike, it better be a big strike, because you only get one shot, and you can’t miss a chance to blow because that opportunity comes once in a lifetime. And that was Eminem, by the way.
