By Eileen Voyles

This grabbed my heart when I heard Dolly Parton say it in a YouTube interview with People magazine, as she reflected on her life and her upcoming 80th birthday on January 19, 2026:

“It's not about what my life can be, but what my life can do.”

For a woman who has accomplished more than most of us could even imagine—music, movies, books, business, philanthropy, a theme park, and soon a Broadway musical—it’s powerful to hear her shift the focus away from personal achievement and toward contribution.

It made me think about the joy I get from being part of communities that believe in lifting others.

Hard Work, Heart Work

One of the things I love about Dolly is her unapologetic honesty about what it takes to succeed. She doesn’t sugarcoat it. She says success “takes a lot, A LOT of hard work,” and she was willing to do whatever it required: get up early, stay up late, keep going when things got hard. She said it was her duty, her job, and her joy to give the world her best.

In the interview, she quoted a line from one of her songs:

“I’ll be rich no matter how much it costs,
and I’ll win no matter how much I’ve lost.”

Every small business owner, entrepreneur, dreamer, and doer can relate to that. 

Trying New Things — At Any Age

One of my favorite messages from the interview was this:

“If you don’t have the nerve to try it, you’re never going to know.”

She wrote a song about that, too — Try — and encouraged everyone to:

“Be the first one up the mountain,
be the first to touch the sky.”

As she approaches 80, she isn’t slowing down. She says she feels like she’s just getting started. She still has things she wants to make, build, write, sing, and give.

What Our Lives Can Do

At the end of the day, Dolly says she hopes that everything she’s done will “do some good” for someone else. She hopes her legacy isn’t about her fame, but about the impact of her work.

Whether we’re a musician working on a Broadway show, a baker opening a café, an entrepreneur launching a new idea, or a local guide sharing the stories of our town,  each of us has the chance to make our corner of the world a little brighter.

Dolly summed it up perfectly:

“It’s not about me — what my life can be — but what my life can do.”

Go, Dolly! Thanks for the many contributions and here's to many more. Happy Birthday!