Dolly Parton is burning up, not burning out | from WorkLife with Adam Grant

**Elise Hu** (0:03)
You're listening to TED Talks Daily. I'm Elise Hu and today we're setting aside our usual format to remember someone deeply loved and admired across the world, country music superstar, Dolly Parton.
The singer, songwriter, actress, businesswoman, and humanitarian died yesterday, August 25th, at the age of 80 She helped shape American music as we know it, songs like Nine to Five, Jolene, and I Will Always Love You. Those songs have captured generation after generation.
Beyond her music, she leaves behind a theme park, a children's literacy program called Imagination Library, which has gifted hundreds of millions of books to kids, and a way of being that made people all over the world feel like she was family. To honor her, we are bringing you a conversation she sat down for in 2022 with organizational psychologist Adam Grant, back when he was host of TED's podcast, WorkLife. It's a chance for all of us to spend a little more time in Dolly's company and celebrate her incredible life. We hear her talk about her creative process, how she balanced getting things right with getting things done, and how her humble beginnings remained a grounding force throughout her life.

**Dolly Parton** (1:21)
I count my blessings far more than I count my money, because I know that this could have not happened to me. I see so many people more talented than me that never make it, and the fact that I have just done so well, I'm amazed myself.

**Elise Hu** (1:36)
What I love about this conversation is Dolly is just Dolly. Funny, wise, generous, entirely herself. She talks about the night she wrote two of her most famous songs, why she always called herself a professionalist rather than a perfectionist, and about the philosophy that carried her through a career spanning more than half a century.

**Dolly Parton** (1:57)
I don't look at my life in terms of regrets. Some people say, well, there was mistakes. I said no, because what I did at the time was what I felt like I needed to be doing at the time. So I can't really call that a mistake or call it a regret. I was building.

**Elise Hu** (2:13)
When it comes to advice on work, life, and love, hers is simple.

**Dolly Parton** (2:18)
We have what we call in our imagination library, dream more, care more, do more, and be more. So ponder that and do that.

**Elise Hu** (2:27)
You can find WorkLife with host Molly Graham wherever you get your podcasts. Now, here's Dolly's Conversation with Adam coming up right after a short break.

**Adam Grant** (2:46)
Hey, Worklifers, it's Adam Grant. Today, I'm excited to bring you a conversation I had on Clubhouse with a legend. Thanks to our sponsors, LinkedIn, Morgan Stanley, ServiceNow, and UKG for making it possible.
Joining me today is the one and only Dolly Parton. Musician, businesswoman, actor, author, humanitarian, one of the greatest songwriters and most beloved humans, in this galaxy.

**Dolly Parton** (3:20)
Well, thank you so much. I'm happy to be with you. Thanks for all those compliments. I don't think I deserve all that.

**Adam Grant** (3:27)
I'm pretty sure you've earned them all and it's an honor to have you here.
I'm very excited to talk about your new book and your album. But I just want to start with a quote of yours that I loved, Dolly, which is, you once said, after you reach a certain age, they think you're over. Well, I will never be over. I'd love to hear more about that. What keeps you motivated at this stage in your career to keep writing and working?

**Dolly Parton** (3:51)
Well, first of all, I love the music. I was born to be a singer and a songwriter, and it was a song that brought me out of the Smoky Mountains to Nashville. It was a song that has taken me everywhere I want to go, and out of that song, so many wonderful things have branched out for me. Even if I had never made it in the business, I would have continued to do my music because I can't help that. That's just inside me. Even if I had done nothing more than be a waitress, I'd have been saving them tips to go down and do a demo, and try to get my songs still recorded, and make an album, put them. Like I said, I'd sell it out of the back of my car. All these artists have done that at one time or another, but I would continue to do it. But thank the Lord, I'm not having to do exactly that these days. But that's how much I love the business, and how much I love the singing and the songwriting.