Slutty Vegan founder Aisha “Pinky” Cole knows drama. It makes the Baltimore native a natural fit as the newest cast member of “The Real Housewives of Atlanta.”

“I got enough drama in my own life for a whole spinoff,” Cole said in a Zoom interview last week. “Have you been on the internet lately?”

There have been headlines galore in 2026: She personally filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. A property management company seized her Georgia home. Last month, the restaurateur went to court and won the property back.

If Cole has been stressed, you wouldn’t have known it from her “Real Housewives” debut on Sunday night. She makes a sauntering entrance on the 17th-season premiere of Bravo’s popular reality TV series. Arriving late to a party, drink in hand, Cole introduces herself to the attendees.

“I’m always going to make myself seen when I’m in the presence of other people,” Cole said. “I think that people can appreciate that, and for the ones that don’t, it’s really just a little bit of intimidation, I’m sure.”

At 38, Cole is used to making bold announcements. Her concept Slutty Vegan, a plant-based eatery serving “One Night Stand” burgers and “Slutty Fries,” opened in 2018 in Atlanta and expanded fast, leading to 14 locations across the country. She covered magazines and planned to “be bigger than Oprah,” she told The New Yorker in 2023.

It was too much too soon. Facing $20 million in debt, Cole lost the business to creditors before buying back the name, the branding and some locations, including Baltimore Peninsula’s Slutty Vegan. She stepped down as CEO in 2025.

For all the recent ups and downs, Cole remains confident in Slutty Vegan, which she said “has not been affected” by her own bankruptcy filing. In fact, she said new restaurant locations will be announced “very soon.”

“I’m excited about this level of growth, and I’m even happier that it’s happening publicly, so that one day, they’ll be writing case studies about the level of resilience that took place in front of everybody’s eyes,” she said.

But based on her uneven track record, not everyone is betting on Cole and Slutty Vegan to have a renaissance. “I don’t think there’s a second grace for Slutty Vegan,” podcast host Chris Bell told UATL. His podcast, “The Black Narrative,” released an episode titled “The Fall of Slutty Vegan” last year. Comments on online message boards were less kind.

Cole said her Baltimore location, years in the making, is “doing actually well” today despite “a lot of hiccups” — including significant leadership changes behind the scenes of the nascent South Baltimore redevelopment project once known as Port Covington and less-than-expected foot traffic. Baltimore’s Slutty Vegan needs “community” to thrive, she said.

Cole, though, is ultimately optimistic about the nascent neighborhood’s future, saying it’s about to “be a great summer.”

“You have to make people believe again,” Cole said.

Her “Real Housewives” introduction was more of an appetizer than a main course, as Cole appears halfway through and largely stays out of the bickering between other cast members like Porsha Williams and chef Kelli Ferrell, a Randallstown native.

That will change soon enough. While she plans to show the “highs and lows of entrepreneurship,” including her bankruptcy, the show will reveal a lot more of Cole than just the face of a food brand, she said.

“What I like, what I don’t like, what makes me tick — they’re really going to get that,” she said. “I’ve never exposed myself in that kind of way before.”

Asked what’s next after “Real Housewives,” Cole instantly replied, with a laugh, “World domination!”

“It’s either going to be good or it’s going to be viral,” she said. “But either way, they watch it.”