The outsider who made it big by being herself

On Tuesday 25th August, I celebrated my birthday. And on the same day, the iconic Dolly Parton passed away.

Everyone has been talking about Dolly Parton, but whilst listening to the many podcasts and rehashed interviews, I realised that she’s an incredible example of a powerful creative brand, both in her visual identity, and in the way she communicated and ran her business.

Now more than ever, your brand is about far more than your photography and directing: those skills are the bottom line. You get hired for who you are, how you communicate and how you show up on the job. And Dolly’s brand encompassed all this and more. Here are three key things I think all photographers (anyone creative in fact) can learn from Dolly.

1. She built a strong brand

We all know Dolly’s signature trailer-trash aesthetic and the other aspects of her brand DNA: distinct unusually high-pitched voice, warm and empathic personality and sharp, self-deprecating humour. (“It costs a lot to make a person look this cheap.”)

If you’re not clear on your brand DNA: the look and feel of your work, the way you approach the job, the things you care about and your chief motivators – in essence, the human stuff – you run the risk of becoming invisible. What makes you unique?

2. She set goals and went after them

Right from when she was young, Dolly wrote secret ‘dream’ lists with 5-7 year goals on them, which by her own admission had a ‘voodoo-like’ success rate. She listed all the TV shows she could appear on, and interviews she could try to get. She listed trusted brands, musicians and production companies she could partner with. And then she made it happen. She was unstoppable!

One of the things I always ask photographers is to consider their dream shoot day, or job, including what the clients, creatives, locations, crew, and all the other aspects of the production would look like. It’s astonishing how effective it is to write down specifics and give yourself a deadline to achieve that.

3. She rolled with the punches

When she joined The Porter Wagoner Show in 1967 to replace the highly popular Norma Jean Beasley, angry fans would boo, walk out, and loudly chant “We want Norma Jean!” whilst Dolly was performing. She kept her composure and kept singing, and said she tried to consider their perspective and show empathy, which went a long way to winning them over.

And when, after a long musical collaboration, Porter opposed her decision to go solo and sued her for breach of contract, she sat down and wrote the timeless ballad “I will always love you”

It can be extremely vulnerable to be a lens-based image maker. Rejection is real. AI is real. Crap economies are real. But understanding that it’s often nothing to do with you, having the resilience to pick yourself up after a setback, and using humour and empathy as much as possible are all ways to preserve your sanity.

And making personal work which responds to difficult challenges and situations is a brilliant way to move on and express yourself by doing what you do best.

In 2014, at the age of 68, Dolly said, ‘Adjusting to the passage of time I think is a key to success and to life, just being able to roll with the punches’.

Godspeed Dolly.