CEO of $100 million company says she doesn't 'remember anything' she learned in college

'When I went to college, all the stuff that I learned, I don’t remember (any) of it,' the CEO of Slutty Vegan, Pinky Cole, said. (Representational image: Unsplash)

Pinky Cole, the 35-year-old CEO of a US-based vegan burger chain worth $100 million, has said that she doesn't remember anything that she learned in college. She, however, was quick to add that it was the relationships she cultivated during her time in college that helped her build her business.

Cole, who runs Slutty Vegan which has 11 outlets across the US, told CNBC Make It that she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in mass media arts from Clark Atlanta University in 2009 but the classes did not really help her in her day job.

“I’m going to be totally transparent with you. When I went to college, all the stuff that I learned, I don’t remember (any) of it,” she told CNBC Make It. “What I do remember is the relationships that I built along the way.”

For example, her college mate, Delta Sigma Theta, taught her leadership skills and professionalism, and gave her relationships with people she “still connects with to this day," the Slutty Vegan CEO told the publication. She added that she finds opportunities for potential partnerships with former classmates she comes across at events and business meetings because “we’ve already built a rapport.”

“The people who I went to school with are now executives and CEOs of some of the biggest companies in the country, but I’ve been able to build those relationships before they became these big-time executives,” Pinky Cole told CNBC Make It. “So the relationship is organic, it’s authentic.”

She added that her college experience was worth every penny, purely because of the connections she’s made. “If I could turn back the hands of time, I would do it all over again... spend $200,000 to go to school, to make some relationships and network with those people,” she told the publication. “Because guess what, your network is your net worth.”

When asked for a piece of advice to budding entrepreneurs, the CEO said, “By all means, I believe that you should go, because the relationships, if nothing else, will be the thing that will support and carry you (on your career journey).”

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