It’s become a bit of a tradition here to share something for international women’s day. I’ve shared pieces celebrating incredible women and their words, and last year I put together a timeline of the history of the day. But this year I wanted to try something a little different.
Rather than quotes out of context or a wide ranging timeline I wanted to tell a story, a story by an incredible woman that related to the themes of international working women’s day.
When I saw Dolly’s Letter to my Younger Self interview in the Big Issue a few weeks ago I knew that I’d read the story I wanted to share. Dolly has been a real inspiration this year, with all of her support of the vaccine, alongside all of her other charitable endeavours. But this story is all about Dolly as a businesswoman. It’s about using your art to tell your story and being proud of your truth, about knowing your value and saying no when you have to, and it’s about recognising the talents of other women along the way.
Without further introduction here’s my illustrated version of that story.
I’ve obviously not had the pleasure of interviewing Dolly myself so the words in this piece came from:
- Dolly’s Letter to my Younger Self for The Big Issue by Jane Graham
- Dolly Parton Tells How She Wrote Her Classic Song “I Will Always Love You,” And Discusses Her New Children’s Album, I Believe In You by Dale Kawashima from Songwriter Universe
- Dan Rather’s interview with Dolly
