Rethink Monday: What Dolly Parton Taught Us About Work

Editor's Note: This blog was originally shared with our Rethink Monday community. Rethink Monday is FREE weekly newsletter that gives you tools and resources to make Mondays a workday you love. Learn more here. 

Like many, we were saddened by the news of the death of the amazing and brilliant Dolly Parton. From her songs, to her larger-than-life personality, Dolly was one of one! She was a true original in every way, and she taught us the indescribable peace that comes from bringing passion to your work.

To celebrate Dolly,  we are going to look at three ways to bring a little more of that Dolly spirit to our own work—and find the quiet peace that can come from giving our best to what we believe in.

Keep reading as we dive into the lessons in passion that Dolly gave us.

1. Let Your Voice Lead Before The Applause Does 

Dolly arrived in Nashville the day after graduating high school in 1964. She worked as a songwriter and recording artist before joining Porter Wagoner’s television show in 1967, then went on to build a solo career in her own unmistakable voice. Her East Tennessee roots, quick humor, and gift for telling the truth in a few memorable lines were not obstacles to outgrow. They were the very things people came to love.

• Listen for the thread — What topics, skills, or questions keep returning to you?
• Make room for repetition — A small, regular practice can carry you further than a burst of enthusiasm.
• Release the comparison — Your particular perspective may be the part that makes the work matter.

2. Put Something Real Inside The Craft

Dolly’s songs often begin with a specific human feeling. “Coat of Many Colors,” written in 1969, grew from the true story of a coat her mother made from fabric scraps and the hurt of being teased at school. “9 to 5,” written and recorded for the 1980 film, gave a catchy, clear voice to the frustrations many working women recognized.

Neither song felt like a lecture. They worked because they were vivid, personal, and generous enough to let listeners find themselves inside the story. The same can be true of our own projects, whether we are writing a presentation, making dinner for people we love, or like us creating cute sticky notes to help our community have less stressful workdays. It's all about sharing your gifts to help others.

• Try this: Before polishing your work, ask: what true detail, feeling, or experience can you incorporate that brings the real you to it?
• Keep in mind: Meaningful doesn't have to mean dramatic. When you incorporate the real you, it brings things that people can relate to and fosters connection.

When you let the real you into what you make, the work can stop feeling like a performance. There is peace in knowing you made something honest, even before anyone else responds to it.

Our Self-Care Sticky Notes were literally created to help real people heal from stress at work. It wasn't theoretical. That is the power of creating from an authentic place, and that is what Dolly showed in all she did.

3. Let Success Become A Way To Serve

Dolly had long connected achievement with generosity. In 1995, she founded the Imagination Library in honor of her father, who could not read. The program sent free, age-appropriate books to children from birth through age five, giving families a simple, steady reason to read together.

It was a beautiful example of passion becoming practical. She did not wait for a perfect plan or try to solve every problem at once. She used what she had—her platform, her resources, and her understanding of what reading can unlock—and built one useful habit into many homes.

Your version may be much smaller, and it still counts:

• Share what you know with someone who is just beginning.
• Use your strengths generously—offer an introduction, a recommendation, or an hour of help.
• Choose one small act of service rather than waiting for a grand gesture.
  

Remember: Purpose feels steadier when it has a place to go. Even a modest act of care can make your work feel connected to something beyond your own to-do list.