Blog: Dolly Parton prepares us for reinvention

How Dolly Parton has prepared us for today’s ‘Great Reinvention’

Last month at our International Women’s Day Conference, Cheryl Stookes, Vice President of Revenue Growth and Marketing at Softchoice and business leadership author, drew our attention to one of the most badass examples of female agency to date: Dolly Parton. Known primarily as a singer-songwriter with Billboard hits like I Will Always Love You and 9 to 5, Dolly is also an active philanthropist, actress, and businesswoman.

Cheryl shared provoking stories of Dolly’s journey to fame, detailing how she took risks – breaking up a profitable partnership in her early years for the sake of her wellbeing, turning down the King of Rock himself to preserve her business interests – with the belief that she was the author of her life’s story. Since the 1970s, Dolly Parton has been a pioneer for female agency and progress.

Today, we’re standing at the tail end of an unprecedented unraveling of that progress – decades of work toward gender parity has been wiped out over the past three years in a series of events that have come to be known as The Great Resignation, The Great Reshuffling, and, most recently, the Great Panic, as corporations return to office requirements and hustle culture, and a surge of tech industry layoffs disproportionately impacts women and people of color.

Not a very rosy outlook. But there is hope, according to Cheryl. The fallout of these events has been a wake-up call for women around the world that something different needs to be done, something bold. But what?

For the answer, Cheryl draws inspiration from Dolly, who she claims has been preparing us for this moment for decades.

Here are a few takeaways from Dolly Parton’s experience, as shared by Cheryl Stookes:

• Agency over boundaries – Early in her career, Dolly Parton cut ties and turned down better-known male artists (like Elvis Presley) when she felt her interests were not being properly upheld.

We don’t need to wait until we’re ‘somebody’ to set healthy boundaries for ourselves. When a business relationship no longer serves your interests or threatens to extort more than its fair share, make a change. Make choices for your career that work for you, even if it disappoints others.

• Question deep-seated impostor syndrome – Dolly initially turned down her nomination for the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame in the believe that she hadn’t earned it and didn’t want to take someone else’s place. Classic symptoms of impostor syndrome.

In moments where you are hesitant to accept recognition or feel you haven’t earned an honor, stop and question that voice. Ask where it comes from and whether you would draw the same conclusion if it were someone else in your place. If you have work to do recognizing and valuing your worth, listen to the voices of allies and supporters and be intentional about integrating these truths into your self-image and self-talk.

• Be intentional – Dolly chose her partnerships and set her career path with great intention, which paid dividends over time. These days, that payoff funds artistic and philanthropic efforts that are important to her.

Whatever you choose to do, know why you are doing it and commit with intentionality. You are the author of your life story, after all, and it’s never too late to start writing.

These three takeaways are as applicable as ever as we find ourselves in the next phase of this social experiment. Oftentimes referred to as The Great Breakup, as women are recognizing their agency and choosing to part with employers who don’t share their values, Cheryl prefers to call it The Great Reinvention and we think that is a better fit.

As Dolly said, If you don't like the road you're walking, start paving another one.

That’s what we want to leave you with today. How will you set boundaries, question self-doubt, and double-down on intentionality in order to reinvent yourself, your perspective, or your circumstances so that the road you’re walking day in and day out is leading in the direction you want?

Listen to Cheryl Stookes’ WITx Talk and other excellent on-demand sessions from The WIT Network’s 2023 International Women’s Day Conference.