In speaking to fellow female leaders, entrepreneurs, and executives at the Women of Excellence event, Cole wants women to recognize how powerful they already are, and to see beyond the confines of identity and labels.
“I know my business and how I built something so special. I think that that has nothing to do with color. I’ve never had an issue being a ‘woman of color’ growing a business,” she said, encouraging female leaders to see their femininity as a strength.
“I believe that we [women] have that third eye ability to use our intuition to help and support us make decisions,” she said. “Women really are dynamic in every sense of the world. We know how to be moms and CEOs at the same time, and make it look good. We know how to multitask and we know how to be multi-dimensional.”
But, she adds that women need to support each other – not only professionally, but by providing each other safe spaces to be vulnerable.
“We have to be super women to everybody else. Sometimes we just want to take the cape off and just say, ‘Hey this is what I’m going through, this is what I need to be better.’”
With all of her success, Cole is still amazed at what she has accomplished in just five years.
“Slutty Vegan has become something that, just seeing it from my lens in the driver’s seat, some days, I still can’t believe it. The company has done so much for the community, for the ecosystem, for people who want to shift their lifestyles and lift their consciousness. I’m just so happy that I’ve been able to build something that is going to resonate with people around the world.”
Cole is a mother of two young children, and is expecting a third baby this year. A business leader, entrepreneur, wife, mother, daughter, friend, and more, Cole acknowledges how hard it is to balance the many roles that women carry in today’s world.
“I don’t know how I do it, but we do it, right? As hard as it is, we still do it. We still show up and make it happen every single day. And that is what makes it special.”
