Yesterday, the world lost Dolly Parton.
She was 80 years old, and by almost any earthly measure, hers was an extraordinary life. She rose from a childhood in rural Tennessee to become one of the most successful and recognizable entertainers in history. She wrote thousands of songs, sold more than 100 million records, built businesses, starred in movies, earned countless awards and created a legacy that will outlive all of us.
Those accomplishments deserve admiration.
But as we reflected on her passing, we found ourselves thinking about something else.
For all Dolly accomplished, perhaps her greatest asset was simply her heart.
And that made us ask ourselves a question:
What does it really mean to live a beautiful life?
When we're young, most of us have some picture of what a beautiful life might look like.
A successful career.
A thriving business.
A comfortable home.
Financial security.
Travel.
Recognition.
Maybe the freedom to spend our days doing something we love.
There is nothing wrong with dreaming about those things. Tanya and I have certainly dreamed about building a successful business and providing a good life for our family.
But as the years pass, our definition of success has changed.
Perhaps the real beauty of a life isn't measured primarily by what we accumulate.
Perhaps it is measured by what we give away.
Our time.
Our knowledge.
Our encouragement.
Our resources.
Our talents.
And most importantly, our love.
A Southern Girl Who Dreamed Big
For Tanya, Dolly's story has always had an additional connection.
Tanya is a Southern girl and has been all her life.
There is something about Dolly that generations of Southern women immediately recognized: the accent, the humor, the faith, the femininity, the determination and the ability to laugh at herself while refusing to allow anyone else to determine what she was capable of accomplishing.
Dolly came from humble beginnings in the mountains of Tennessee and eventually became not only an enormously successful entertainer, but an exceptionally smart businesswoman. She retained control over much of her work, built an entertainment and business empire and helped turn Dollywood into one of Tennessee's best-known destinations.
For Tanya, as a woman who has built a business in the printing industry, there is something especially meaningful about that example.
Printing has historically been a male-dominated industry.
Building a company as a woman sometimes means walking into rooms where people don't immediately expect you to be the owner, the decision-maker or the person responsible for creating the vision.
Dolly demonstrated something worth remembering:
A woman doesn't have to become someone else to become successful.
She could be feminine and formidable.
Warm and extraordinarily capable.
Funny and serious about business.
Generous and financially successful.
Proud of where she came from while dreaming far beyond it.
There is a lesson in that for every woman building a business today — including the growing number of remarkable women in print.
Success Wasn't the Most Impressive Part
Dolly Parton could have spent the second half of her life simply enjoying everything she earned.
Instead, she continually found ways to give.
One of the greatest examples was the Imagination Library, which she launched in 1995 to provide free books to children. By the time of her death, the program had distributed more than 304 million books worldwide.
Think about that for a moment.
More than 304 million books.
Millions of children opening a package addressed to them and discovering a book inside.
Millions of bedtime stories.
Millions of opportunities for a child to discover reading.
And potentially millions of lives nudged in a slightly different direction.
She also contributed to disaster relief, hospitals, medical research and numerous other charitable causes.
She had resources most of us will never possess.
But perhaps that isn't really the point.
God does not give all of us the same resources.
He does not give all of us the same talents.
He does not give all of us the same audience.
What matters is what we do with what He places in our hands.
What Has God Put in Our Hands?
That question has increasingly become important to Tanya and me as business owners.
We aren't musicians.
We aren't celebrities.
And most of us aren't going to distribute hundreds of millions of books.
But all of us have something.
Maybe you know how to print a great shirt.
Maybe you know how to repair equipment.
Maybe you can teach somebody a skill.
Maybe you've built a successful business and can help a young entrepreneur avoid the mistakes you made.
Maybe you have money to share.
Maybe you don't have much money at all, but you have an hour to give someone who desperately needs somebody to listen.
Maybe your gift is encouragement.
Maybe you're the person who sees something in someone before they can see it in themselves.
Sometimes changing a person's life doesn't require something enormous.
Sometimes it means simply making today a little brighter.
The People Behind the Orders
One of the easiest things to forget in business is that there is a person on the other side of almost every transaction.
An order number represents somebody.
Maybe that person is starting their first business.
Maybe they're trying to make payroll.
Maybe they're printing shirts from the spare bedroom while their children sleep.
Maybe they're building something they hope will allow them to leave a job they hate.
Maybe they've invested nearly everything they have into a printer, press or business idea.
Sometimes they need ink.
Sometimes they need equipment.
Sometimes they need technical help.
And sometimes they simply need someone to say:
“Yes, you can figure this out.”
Those moments will never appear on a sales report.
But maybe they're some of the moments that matter most.
Loving People a Little More Like Christ
As Christian business owners, this is ultimately where our thoughts about Dolly's life led us.
Jesus did not teach us that a successful life would be measured by possessions.
He taught us repeatedly to love.
To serve.
To give.
To care for people who could do nothing for us in return.
To use what we have been given for something greater than ourselves.
None of us will ever do that perfectly.
We certainly don't.
But perhaps the goal isn't perfection.
Perhaps it is simply spending a lifetime trying to become a little better at it.
Trying to be a little more patient.
A little more generous.
A little more forgiving.
A little quicker to encourage.
A little slower to judge.
A little more willing to share.
A little more willing to stop what we're doing and help.
In other words:
Trying to love people just a little more like Christ loved people.
What Will They Remember?
Dolly Parton accomplished enough professionally for several lifetimes.
The songs will remain.
The awards will remain.
Dollywood will remain.
Her businesses will continue.
And generations who aren't even born yet will probably sing songs she wrote. Her team has indicated that many projects she helped plan will continue after her death.
But listen to what people have been talking about since she passed.
Over and over again, the conversation comes back to her kindness, generosity, authenticity, compassion and ability to make people feel included.
Maybe that's the greatest legacy anyone can leave.
Someday, all of us will leave this earthly realm.
And when that day comes, what more could we really wish for?
That people remember how large our company became?
How much money we accumulated?
How impressive our possessions were?
How many awards hung on the wall?
Or might we hope for something much simpler?
That our family knew they were loved.
That our friends knew they could count on us.
That someone struggling found encouragement because we took the time to care.
That we shared whatever resources God entrusted to us.
That we used whatever talents He gave us.
That somebody's burden became a little lighter because we helped carry it.
That someone's opportunity became a little greater because we opened a door.
That someone's day became just a little brighter because our paths happened to cross.
And perhaps, when our earthly journey is finished and we enter Heaven, we can look back knowing that we spent our imperfect lives trying to love people just a little more like Christ.
Dolly Parton certainly lived an extraordinarily successful life.
But looking at the millions of people she touched, the children she helped, the communities she supported and the affection being expressed for her around the world, we find ourselves thinking that perhaps she accomplished something even greater.
She lived a beautiful one.
And that is a life worth dreaming of.
Perhaps the most beautiful life is the one we give away.
In memory of Dolly Parton, 1946–2026.
— Tanya & Brian
Kolormatrix
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