Credit: Charles Sykes/Bravo
The Real Housewives of Atlanta star Pinky Cole got candid regarding a breadth of personal topics in a new tell-all interview.
Specifically, she touched on her business issues, her bankruptcy, and not having a prenuptial agreement.
“Jesus took a hit. Jesus stood in front of that cross. And obviously, I’m not comparing myself to Jesus, but… I believe that every single thing that has happened in my life was so intentional, and is so intentional, for good reason,” she said regarding her business issues in an interview with Funky Friday.
“Back in 2016, I had a Jamaican restaurant that caught on fire,” she continued. “[I] lost everything. Got evicted. Car got repoed. Wages got garnished. Almost lost my mind. Was in a relationship at the time, he went to jail. Everything fell apart for me. And then Slutty Vegan came. And I built a hundred-million-dollar brand. And I made the Time 100 list. And I made the Forbes list twice. And I made the cover of Essence Magazine, and I made the cover of Black Enterprise Magazine, and I did all of these things. And then I lost that hundred-million-dollar brand. So you think if it happened before and I got it all back times ten, what do you think about to happen right now?”
Due to her life experiences, Pinky noted she can relate to someone who has made a million dollars and someone who has lost it all.
As far as her bankruptcy filing goes, she referred to it as a “strategy.”
“When you think about the U.S. bankruptcy code, it is a tool,” she said. “Okay? But the problem is, there’s a stigma in our community that when you talk about ‘Big Bertha,’ it means that you’re broke. But that is the lack of education because not many people in our community have ever been brave enough to proudly speak about it.”
Pinky explained her business had $4 million in debt.
“What happens with startup companies, especially Black-owned businesses, if you don’t have the level of financial support to continue to fund you so that you can grow, you’re going to crumble,” she shared. “No matter how – no – no matter what you try to do.”
Although she said she didn’t initially want to file for bankruptcy, she eventually had to.
Pinky also addressed how she and her husband, Derrick Hayes, do not have a prenuptial agreement.
“We locked in like skin,” she stated. “And I’m gonna tell you why. When – right before we got married, I looked at him and he looked at me. I said, ‘Listen, if this don’t work out, we going to go our separate ways with what we came with.’ And we both– and that’s why I married him.”
“His plan was never to live off me, and my plan was to never live off him,” she added. “And that’s why it works. And it might not work for somebody else, right?”
Finally, Pinky spoke out on people who claim her Slutty Vegan restaurant isn’t healthy.
“I’m not an advocate to say every piece of vegan food is healthy, cause it’s not!” she explained. “Okay? There are unhealthy vegan options, and that’s just the truth… I’d be lying if I say, ‘Well, you know, vegan food…’ But… let me tell you about a healthier planet, okay? The less meat that you eat, the healthier the planet can be… the less meat that you eat, you could very well be healthier depending on the kind… of … vegan meat that you’re eating. Less cholesterol… lesser sodium.. there’s levels to this.”
“So, when I created Slutty Vegan, I really just wanted people to understand that there are other ways to eat,” she insisted.