Dolly Parton Talks Ambition on Reese Witherspoon’s New Unscripted Series

"You gotta get out and hustle. And you gotta get out and work for it. And you can’t let somebody hurt your feelings and make you go home and say that it ain’t going to work," said Parton.

Written by Lauren Laffer
Dolly Parton Talks Ambition on Reese Witherspoon’s New Unscripted Series
Dolly Parton and Reese Witherspoon; Photo via Instagram

When Reese Witherspoon set out to create her own brand of unscripted television, she knew that she wanted to dedicate her time to highlighting the strong female influences around her. In partnership with AT&T and Hello Sunshine, Witherspoon’s female driven media company, the actress will host Shine On With Reese, a motivational series to encourage anyone to work towards making their dreams a reality.

“I am thrilled to have such like-minded, creative collaborators at AT&T to help Hello Sunshine pursue our mission of elevating and showcasing the voices of women that we have such admiration and respect for,” Witherspoon, 42, said in a press release. “I am so excited for the world to experience the stories from our partnership with AT&T, which are set to be equal parts entertaining, inspiring, thought-provoking and unabashedly real.”

To kick off the series, Witherspoon joined forces with superstar Dolly Parton. Together, the two spend the day in Nashville, singing duets, raiding the icons’ sparkly closet and talking about her journey to becoming an internationally renowned singer/songwriter.

In a preview for the episode posted on Hello Sunshine’s Instagram, Parton takes a no excuses allowed stance when it comes to breaking down the glass ceilings that women often face.

“I think it’s wonderful to have ambition. I don’t care who you are. And it’s great for women to have ambition. You gotta get out and work too,” she said in typical Parton fashion. “I mean, a lot of women can kind of hide behind a lot of stuff and just use excuse that ‘I didn’t make it ‘cause I was a girl.’ Well, you can make it… if you’ll get out and be willing to sacrifice and work for it. Ain’t no man gonna stop you if you’ve got the talent. You might have to work a little harder in your area, but it can be done, and I am a prime example. Like I’ve often said, ‘I’m as old as yesterday, but I’m as new as tomorrow.’ You gotta get out and hustle. And you gotta get out and work for it. And you can’t let somebody hurt your feelings and make you go home and say that it ain’t going to work. If you’ve got the willingness to work and the ambition, and the talent, there’s not much you can’t do, if you’re willing to work for it.”

In addition to sharing Parton’s story, Witherspoon will highlight many other hard-working women, including Ava DuVernay, Pink, America Ferrera, Kacey Musgraves, Sprinkles founder Candace Nelson and Spanx founder Sara Blakely, among others.

Fans can catch Shine On with Reese on DIRECTV, DIRECTV NOW and U-Verse via the Hello Sunshine VOD.