<p id=”par-1_58″>Dolly Parton has been in the <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/news/dolly-parton-earned-first-job-saying-1-important-word.html/”>music industry for decades</a>. In this time, she said she has come into contact with many <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/news/dolly-partons-secrets-beautiful-inside-out.html/”>inspiring, creative people</a>. She has also worked with people who are less pleasant to be around. Parton said she has worked with plenty of “jerks” over the years. She’s learned a lot about people from them.</p>
<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-dolly-parton-said-she-has-worked-with-jerks-in-the-music-industry”>Dolly Parton said she has worked with ‘jerks’ in the music industry</h2>
<p id=”par-2_49″>Parton has worked with many people over the years. While she is a solo artist, she has worked with others in the studio and <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/news/members-dolly-partons-band-bitter-towards.html/”>brings a band with her</a> on the road. She has found that the nicest people in the industry also tend to be the most talented.</p>
<p id=”par-3_66″>“I have always found it true that the more real talent a person has, the more secure he is in that talent and the less likely he is to be a jerk,” she wrote in her book <em><a href=”My%20Life%20and%20Other%20Unfinished%20Business” target=”_blank” rel=”noreferrer noopener”>Dolly: My Life and Other Unfinished Business</a></em>. “Most of the tantrums people throw don’t really come out of anger with others as much as from an insecurity within themselves.”</p>
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<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet” data-width=”550″ data-dnt=”true”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>I never let a rhinestone go unturned <img src=”https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/14.0.0/72×72/1f48e.png” alt=”💎” class=”wp-smiley” style=”height: 1em; max-height: 1em;” /> <a href=”https://t.co/PRqhAfoUj4″>pic.twitter.com/PRqhAfoUj4</a></p>— Dolly Parton (@DollyParton) <a href=”https://twitter.com/DollyParton/status/1959350337522815324?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>August 23, 2025</a></blockquote><script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″></script>
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<p id=”par-4_12″>Parton said she learned that many people acted badly out of defensiveness. </p>
<p id=”par-5_45″>“Some of the nicest, genuinely warmest people I have dealt with have been those with the greatest talent and success,” she said. “And some of the biggest jerks have been people on the perimeter of success who have bluffed their way to where they are.”</p>
<p id=”par-6_14″>Parton herself has a pristine reputation, which could speak to her <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/news/dolly-parton-wrote-shocking-number-songs-prolific-day-writing.html/”>level of talent</a>.</p>
<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-dolly-parton-said-she-comes-across-a-lot-of-personalities-in-the-music-industry”>Dolly Parton said she comes across a lot of personalities in the music industry</h2>
<p id=”par-7_18″>Parton said that no two creative projects are the same because of the variety of personalities she encounters. </p>
<p id=”par-8_62″>People often ask me, ‘What’s it like to make a record?’ or ‘What’s it like to make a movie?’ The answer is that there is no clear-cut answer,” she wrote. “There are as many answers as there are records and movies. Because show business is a creative field, it is carried out by creative people who by their very nature are oddballs.”</p>
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<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet” data-width=”550″ data-dnt=”true”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>I can write a song anytime, anyplace, anywhere. That’s why I always keep a guitar and a piece of paper handy at all times. <a href=”https://t.co/uHLWTQ05Q1″>pic.twitter.com/uHLWTQ05Q1</a></p>— Dolly Parton (@DollyParton) <a href=”https://twitter.com/DollyParton/status/1966606637646418120?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>September 12, 2025</a></blockquote><script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″></script>
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<p id=”par-9_21″>Parton said her use of “oddballs” was affectionate. She enjoyed the way that creative people brought new experiences into her life. </p>
<p id=”par-10_39″>“I don’t mean that in a negative way: The fact is, creative people are just different,” she wrote. “So the experience of working with one creative person or another can be as different as plowing is from making biscuits.”</p>
<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-she-joked-that-she-was-a-jerk-as-a-kid”>She joked that she was a jerk as a kid</h2>
<p id=”par-11_22″>While Parton is now known for her warm, bright personality, she said that she used to frequently <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/news/dolly-parton-said-little-spastic-jerk-meant-got-whipping-every-day.html/”>get on her family’s nerves</a>. </p>
<p id=”par-12_94″>“I guess I was a little spastic jerk. Probably a pain in the butt,” she said, per the book <em>Smart Blonde</em> by Stephen Miller. “I was always in trouble; not meanin’ to be. I got a whippin’ every day I was in school ’cause I couldn’t sit still. I’d sit and not even knowin’, I’d be bangin’ my heels against the desk, makin’ noise or I’d get up to sharpen my pencil a thousand times. Didn’t know it. I was always in some kind of trouble. I was so fidgety, spastic is the word.”</p>
<p id=”par-13_18″>Parton admitted she craved attention as a child, so she sometimes acted out when she didn’t receive it.</p>