Entrepreneur and Slutty Vegan founder Aisha “Pinky” Cole has a message for fellow business owners: get ready, now—because the FIFA World Cup is coming, and so are the customers.
In a video posted to Instagram on Sunday, Cole dubbed herself the “FIFA World Cup Fairy” and urged entrepreneurs to wake up and start preparing for the global event, which will hit U.S. cities in just 375 days on June 11, 2026.
“The FIFA World Cup is exactly 375 days away,” Cole said. “It’s bigger than the Super Bowl. It’s bigger than the Olympics. And this time, it’s coming to the U.S. — ATL, Miami, LA, Houston, Dallas, the whole squad is on the map.”
The World Cup, hosted jointly by the U.S., Mexico, and Canada, is expected to bring millions of international fans to host cities across North America. For small businesses, especially Black-owned businesses like Cole’s, this could mean a once-in-a-generation economic opportunity.
Cole didn’t mince words in her call to action:
“This is literally your opportunity to make some real-time money. This is your moment.”
She challenged entrepreneurs to start strategizing immediately, whether they operate food trucks, sell merchandise, rent Airbnbs, manage event spaces, or create content.
“Now is the time for you to start planning,” she said. “There are so many people that have already been planning for the last three years for this moment. So consider this your reminder—you got to get super creative.”
As someone who turned a single food truck into a nationally recognized vegan burger empire, Cole knows a thing or two about seizing opportunity. Her advice? Don’t wait until 2026 to show up. Start now, or risk being left behind.
She ended her message with a warm Sunday send-off, inviting fans to visit Slutty Vegan and Bar Vegan in Atlanta, and reminding her followers.
With major U.S. cities bracing for a wave of global attention, Pinky Cole’s rallying cry is simple but urgent: Plan. Prepare. Profit.
