Anyone who knows me knows that the job I am doing right now at Jones Valley Teaching Farm is the job that will be the best job I will ever have. I know every single day that the work I am doing is important and I don’t take one minute of it for granted. I live and breathe it (for better or for worse) and I honestly think it is the answer to so many of the questions we are all asking of this world and of ourselves.

At Jones Valley Teaching Farm, we use the powerful and thoughtful act of growing, cooking, and sharing food as a foundation for young people to learn and grow. We are also learning that it is an incredible tool for bringing a wide variety of folks together to learn, share, and be in community with one another. It’s not always easy. It’s not always hard. More often than not, it’s almost always fulfilling.

When you walk in my office, you are immediately confronted with shrines to Dolly Parton. There is an entire area on my bookcase with Dolly coin purses, candles, books, and framed photos. There is a signed photograph hanging over my desk that a cherished Board member and friend gave me. There are photos I’ve clipped out on my bulletin board and hidden behind a cabinet is a huge poster with my face photo-shopped on Dolly’s (my colleagues surprised me with this on a birthday and it is featured above). I quote her all the time in notes to staff and she’s been a guiding light for me — as a southern white woman doing people-centered, systems-shifting, and true belonging work in the deep South. Even my dog’s name is Dolly.

I was drawn to Dolly Parton at a very early age. Her singing and acting hooked me first. I didn’t know many other 6-year-olds who could sing every song from The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, but I was one of them (I still get laughs when I do dance routines from that film at parties). Her persona — the image she carefully curated for walking through this world —was also something I admired. I loved that she knew exactly who she was and I used to snicker to myself when I’d hear someone talking about how she was covering it all up with wigs, makeup, and costumes. They just didn’t get it, but I did. As I’ve grown older and watched my own evolution over time, I know for sure that it has always been her heart and spirit that resonates most for me. People often joke, “What would Dolly do?” but it is no joke to me. I ask that question all of the time.

You see, Dolly demonstrates what it means to be proud of where you come from while still acknowledging ways we can be better. She exemplifies what it means to stay committed to your people and if given the opportunity to create new experiences and opportunities for your community, you do it. She models ambition and how you can, in fact, lead with your values no matter what your circumstance may be. She brings people together like no other and it never matters who you are, where you come from, or even if you don’t see the world exactly how she sees it. She owns her work and refuses to let a system dictate how it should be done. She shows little girls and women that we are our own bosses and no matter what people may see on the outside, our heart, mind, and spirit will always win if we stay true to who we are and the people we serve. She reminds us that we are never above anything and that if we have a unique opportunity to soar, we do it with and for others. She doesn’t discriminate or hide how she feels and that value system drives the kind of discipline and consistency we are used to seeing in her. In a world that tells you all the ways you SHOULD be, Dolly Parton defines how it’s GONNA be and that is what I often lean on when I need the courage to stand alone and lead despite how the world is moving around me.

As I celebrate 10 years of doing the incredibly hard and rewarding work at Jones Valley Teaching Farm — often driven by the very things I’ve learned by watching and listening to Dolly all these years — you can imagine my surprise when someone alerted me to a job opening at her Imagination Library Foundation. It is a big job and requires traveling with Dolly. Okay, it also includes many other responsibilities, but that one part of the job description forced me to immediately daydream what it might be like to be in close proximity to Dolly. It was also a moment to consider because it would be driving her foundation’s work — work that has inspired me to keep growing at Jones Valley Teaching Farm — and that was appealing too. She uses books to change children’s lives and I use food, but impacting as many children’s lives as possible is the ultimate goal for both of us.

I told a few trusted folks about this opportunity and the immediate reaction by everyone — even those not interested in me leaving my current job or moving to a different state — was, “APPLY!” And so for a week or so I thought about what I would say in my cover letter (because updating my resume felt too hard in that moment). I decided that the first line in my cover letter would be, “Please don’t hire me for this job. Instead, let me tell you what Dolly has meant to me.” Every version I crafted started with a sentence that explained how much I love the job I’m in now and how I need to stay to see it through — at least in this moment. Especially in this moment.

I finally realized after day four of this back and forth that it wasn’t the job I was interested in necessarily. It was the spirit and heart of Dolly Parton and how integral she has been in my own growth and love for the work I want to do now and the impact I hope to make. It’s the way I continue to weave her philosophy in the work I do at Jones Valley Teaching Farm and why I attribute some of its success to her. When I’m standing in my values and challenging systems that don’t fit with my values, I feel most authentic and if there’s anything I have learned from Dolly, it’s that living authentically matters more than most anything. I know that I’m working day and night to make a considerable impact in this world and that means something. That means everything.

The job at Imagination Library wouldn’t recreate what I’m able to do now and so I made the decision not to apply. I decided to firmly plant my feet in the soil we are cultivating at Jones Valley Teaching Farm and to keep challenging the boundaries and limitations in front of us. I believe that “What Would Dolly Do?” is an incredibly important question for me to keep asking as we collectively make room for diverse thoughts and create spaces for belonging with food at the center of all of it. It’s not always easy. It’s not always hard. But, all of it creates the kind of space where children can dream of the world they want to live in. Channeling that hope — those dreams — is essential to our survival.

Someone I trust recently said, “Amanda — it’s not an application that you need to submit. It’s a letter to Dolly.” And so this is my love letter to Dolly. I hope I can always channel her spirit in the hard times and these are definitely hard times. I hope I can always expand my heart — like she has done — to be a resource and friend to others. I hope I can always seek the wisdom she brilliantly shares with all of us in her lyrics and words when hard, good, and value-driven decisions need to be made. Mostly, I hope I can always make her proud.

I’ll end this with the lyrics from my favorite Dolly song because it continues to remind me of the work and love that is ahead of us now:

“Light of a Clear Blue Morning”

It’s been a long dark night
And I’ve been a waitin’ for the morning
It’s been a long hard fight
But I see a brand new day a dawning
I’ve been looking for the sunshine
You know I ain’t seen it in so long
But everything’s gonna work out just fine
And everything’s gonna be all right
That’s been all wrong

‘Cause I can see the light of a clear blue morning
I can see the light of a brand new day
I can see the light of a clear blue morning
Oh, and everything’s gonna be all right
It’s gonna be okay

It’s been a long long time
Since I’ve known the taste of freedom
And those clinging vines
That had me bound, well I don’t need ’em
Oh, I’ve been like a captured eagle, you know an eagle’s born to fly
Now that I have won my freedom, like an eagle I am eager for the sky

And I can see the light of a clear blue morning
I can see the light of brand new day
I can see the light of a clear blue morning
Oh, and everything’s gonna be all right
It’s gonna be okay