TIPS & TRICKS

Dolly Parton: Business Mogul and Country Music Star on Walking in Faith

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She might be best known for legendary country hits such as “Jolene,” “Yellow Roses,” or “I Will Always Love You,” but many people are unaware of just what a business mastermind Dolly Parton really is. Her net worth is a jaw-dropping $650 million – which is all the more impressive when you consider how much money this woman has given away through her foundations and charitable giving. Early on in her music career, Parton realized that she needed to own the rights up and down the process, so she started her own record label, bought the tour buses, etc. As a recording artist, she realized the need for vertical integration in an era when this was rarely, if ever, done. She has made quite a career out of television and film, as well, always sharp in her business dealings on the back end of these endeavors, and she owns and operates multiple entertainment venues, hospitality services, and restaurants.

One of the key elements of her success is Dolly’s penchant for buying up the entire process in a given enterprise. Therefore, if you want to go to her theme park Dollywood, you’ll likely end up staying at her hotel, eating at her dinner-theater business, and buying her merchandise. In everything that she does, Dolly has been consistently able to control the supply chain and the value-added process in every link of the chain.

Dolly Parton is a real operator.

In the past few years, Dolly Parton has been catching attention for collaborating with prominent Christian artists, such as For King and Country and Zach Williams on explicitly faith-based songs such as “God Only Knows” and “There Was Jesus.”

For longtime fans of her work, this shouldn’t be a huge surprise. Dolly Parton has never been shy about her faith in God.

“My faith impacts everything I do because I do believe that, through God, all things are possible,” she said last year in an interview with Fox. The granddaughter of a Pentecostal minister, Dolly came up in the faith and never let it leave her heart. “I grew up with a Bible background,” she says, “and I’m glad I did. I know my Bible stories.”

In some ways, Dolly Parton does not fit neatly into a category. She is open about her faith, her daily prayer life, and her love for Jesus, though she does not attend church regularly and occasionally holds political positions many Christians would disagree with. Be that as it may, she certainly gets the heart right:

“I just try to live through love as much as I can,” she says, and it shows in her philanthropy. Dolly Parton has a strong passion for children, literacy, and making a place for families to thrive. She has given away countless scholarships, donated money to medical needs, given to victims of natural disasters, and, to date, she has given away 200 million books to children through her Imagination Library. In fact, it is estimated that 10% of children in the United States have benefitted from her programs.

Reported to be gracious and kind to fans, Dolly Parton is a wonderful example of Christian generosity and using the proceeds of her hard work to do some good in the world.

May many more of us strive to “live through love” in our lives and business dealings.

Quick Hits

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• CNBC offers 5 budgeting strategies to combat the challenges of inflation.
• Christian billionaire and philanthropist Bill Hwang found guilty of market manipulation, and defrauding banks.
• A slowdown in consumer price increases in June has some investors optimistic for a future interest rate cut.
• Christian research group Barna releases results of their “Faith and AI” survey, chronicling
• Christians’ attitudes toward the ethics of artificial intelligence technology.

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