Dolly Parton: Queen of Everything

This week, the one and only Dolly Parton graces Dumb Blonde with her presence, and it's truly a dream come true. The living legend first talks with Bunnie about her humble Appalachian roots, her childhood in the Smoky Mountains, and the profound influence of her close-knit family. She then discusses the pivotal role her Uncle Bill played in nurturing her early musical aspirations and helping her land a breakthrough performance at the iconic Grand Ole Opry. Dolly also opens up about the challenges she faced navigating the Nashville music scene as a young artist, her enduring partnership with husband Carl Dean, and the entrepreneurial empire she's built, including her successful makeup line, Dolly Beauty, Dolly Wines, and her beloved Imagination Library program. Dolly Parton: Website https://dollyparton.com/ | Dolly Beauty https://dollybeauty.com/| Dolly Wines https://dollywines.com/pages/where-to-buy?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiApNW6BhD5ARIsACmEbkVOeqd1XiLB6ht7sPUjMwgULPbD2xlKZIFDiJOCwSgsnjdwZDLgFQcaAsYsEALw_wcB Watch Full Episodes & More: www.dumbblondeunrated.com

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Bunnie XO?

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• 0:41Bunnie XO?

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• 0:49Speaker 01

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• 1:01Bunnie XO?

  12 celebrities, one Don, and cold, hard cash from the producers of Traitors comes The Mob, a new Hulu original series, now streaming on Hulu and Hulu on Disney+. And this unique new reality competition show hosted by the iconic Parker Posey. What up, girl? 12 celebrity contestants are about to become members of a powerful family for two weeks in a lavish Italian villa. They'll shake down and hustle to win a share of up to $250,000. And every good mob needs a Don. Whoever they choose to lead them will have absolute power deciding who stays and who gets taken out. Who makes money and who walks away with nothing? In a game of power where loyalty and trust are the currency,

• 1:43Bunnie XO?

  will the most powerful reality contestant in TV history be able to keep the family happy? And if they're overthrown by the mob, who's gonna step up and become the new Don? Let the games begin. Watch The Mob, now streaming on Hulu and Hulu on Disney+. For bundle subscribers, terms apply. I'll be tuning in. Hey guys, I need to ask you a question. I want to know, why in the hell are you not on Patreon? I don't think you guys even realize how much content we have on Patreon. Let me break it down for you. We have the Bunny XO Show. We have Meet the DeFords. We have Popaganda. We have more shows that we're adding. And not to mention, we have the visuals of the podcast. Head over to www.patreon.com backslash dumb blonde podcast and sign up.

• 2:28Bunnie XO?

  You guys are gonna be pleasantly surprised. So with this podcast, you know, Dolly had, she's a workhorse like I am. And before she had done the podcast, she had already done three other things. The podcast was the last of her things of the day. And we got allotted 45 minutes with her. And her and I just started talking and like she had some of the most incredible answers and like, you know, when Dolly speaks, you don't cut her off. So I didn't get to finish the entire interview. But Dolly had so much fun that they're bringing me back for a part two. It was incredible. And I can't, I'm just so grateful and so thankful.

• 3:30Bunnie XO?

  Is this thing on? Hello, babies. Welcome back to another episode of Dumb Blonde. Today is so special to me because I started this podcast six years ago. And when I named this podcast, I named it after a specific song that was tongue in cheek, but also was an oxymoron to my life, but also a woman who I have admired and literally just patterned my entire life after the iconic, the queen of not just country, but the queen of everything, Ms. Dolly Parton is here today.

• 4:04Speaker 02

  Well, hello. Now, we should put an S on the dumb blonde.

• 4:07Bunnie XO?

  I'm telling you.

• 4:08Speaker 02

  We've got two of us here today.

• 4:09Bunnie XO?

  Will you be my co-host?

• 4:10Speaker 02

  I'll be your co-host.

• 4:11Bunnie XO?

  I would love for you to be my-

• 4:12Speaker 02

  If you'd love that, I would love it.

• 4:14Bunnie XO?

  I would love for you to be my co-host.

• 4:16Speaker 02

  We've got a bunny and a squirrel.

• 4:17Bunnie XO?

  I love it. I love it so much. Both are fast, though. Very slippery suckers, right?

• 4:22Speaker 02

  Yeah, very, very, very.

• 4:24Bunnie XO?

  This has been something that I have pretty much manifested since I started this podcast. Everybody has always asked me, who is your dream guest? And there's two of you, Dolly Parton and Joyce Myers are the two people that I have said that I have wanted since the beginning. And sitting here with you today is such an honor. And I just want to say thank you for making time for me today.

• 4:43Speaker 02

  Well, I'm happy to do it. We love you.

• 4:45Bunnie XO?

  Oh, I love you too. And my husband loves you too.

• 4:47Speaker 02

  Well, we love your husband very much. But every time I see you, I see him and vice versa. So, yeah, we, we love you both. You make a great couple.

• 4:55Bunnie XO?

  Thank you.

• 4:55Speaker 02

  But you're great on your own. And you're no dumb blonde. I can tell you that.

• 4:59Bunnie XO?

  Thank you. And neither one of us are though, right? Isn't that just?

• 5:02Speaker 02

  Well, I don't know about me, but I know you're okay.

• 5:05Bunnie XO?

  Well, I mean, the testimony to your life is, pretty much shows how brilliant of a woman you are. And I kind of want to dive into that with you, starting with, I want to paint a picture for my viewers at home. For some people who might not even know your backstory, I'd like to start, you know, with your childhood and where you grew up and stuff like that. If you could tell me a little bit about that.

• 5:24Speaker 02

  Well, I grew up in the great Smoky Mountains of East Tennessee, way up in the hills. Actually, I was actually born in a little cabin on the Little Pigeon River. My dad was a sharecropper for a while. And then eventually, we moved over to the little place we call Locust Ridge, where you hear me talk a lot about my Tennessee mountain home. But there's 12 of us in all. Mama had 12 kids and six boys and six girls. We were pretty even. And we were just country people, just trying to scratch a living out of, out of dirt up there in the hills. But I, I was blessed to have a good mom and dad. And they managed pretty good to work with nothing to try to, you know, to raise a house full of kids. And none of us wound up in jail.

• 6:09Speaker 02

  None of us had to get married. So, all in all, I think they did a pretty good job. But we were just, a lot of folks in our area were poor. That's just the way it was in, in that area. But it's been one of the greatest things, really, that I've carried with me all my memories of my childhood. It's made me appreciate life and people more than if I had been brought up a different way, I think.

• 6:31Bunnie XO?

  Yes, ma'am. I always feel like harder childhood. make for great adult hoods. It like sets you up for just a lifetime of, you know, knowing that you have to work for what you want and going after your dreams. And you, I feel like you dream a little bit bigger, too.

• 6:46Speaker 02

  I think you do. I think you also kind of can relate, you know, to, to things more. And you also, because if you, like us, you stay so close together as a family in order to try to make it. And I think that in itself gives you a strength that you wouldn't have had you not had, you know, to know what it's like to work together.

• 7:07Bunnie XO?

  Yes, ma'am.

• 7:08Speaker 02

  You know, to make things work and to keep a family together.

• 7:11Bunnie XO?

  Yes, ma'am, absolutely. A lot of your songs are deeply personal and some of them reference your father's tough love and you've also spoken about your mom's faith, how she was, you know, extremely religious. Do you feel that the tough love approach and her religious views is kind of what made you so independent or like, dare I say rebellious?

• 7:35Speaker 02

  I don't think I'm rebellious as much as I'm just strong. And I get my work ethic from my dad and I get my, my spirituality and, you know, just my, my faith, I mean, my faith, but also just my creativity from my mom's side of the family because they were all musical. Now dad's people worked hard and dad was not a tough dad. He was strong though. He was kind of like that. We knew, we knew we better watch out.

• 8:02Bunnie XO?

  He wasn't one to play with.

• 8:03Speaker 02

  No, he wasn't going to beat us to death or anything like that. But we weren't afraid of mama. You know, we'd get by with anything with her. But she would, she would say, you know, you couldn't push her over the edge. She'd say, okay, now, that's enough. But my dad, we, but I think that, that was a good combination with mom's faith and, and with dad's strength, that it made us really all pretty well-balanced kids, I think.

• 8:31Bunnie XO?

  I love that. I love that a lot. The respect that you have for your parents still after all these years is admirable also.

• 8:37Speaker 02

  Yeah, well, I loved my family, still do. I stay as close as I can to them, certainly if I don't see them as often as I'd love to. But they're always in my heart and always carry home with me wherever I go. And I write so many songs in order. Well, it comes natural to me, but I often do it just to keep all that straight and keep that still present, because it's so easy. And I'm sure you know, living out in this big world, you can just go any way, whether it be right or wrong.

• 9:09Bunnie XO?

  Yes, ma'am.

• 9:09Speaker 02

  You can go left and right and wrong.

• 9:11Bunnie XO?

  Yes.

• 9:12Speaker 02

  But it's, it's like, if you keep that thing that you remember as a child, that faith, I keep that very, I'm very, I'm a big person, you know, on faith and keeping that strength, because that's my creative energy and my, and my spiritual energy is the thing that keeps me motivated, keeps me strong, keeps me from falling through the cracks.

• 9:32Bunnie XO?

  Keeps you grounded.

• 9:32Speaker 02

  In this crazy world, yeah.

• 9:33Bunnie XO?

  I always say that. I'm like, whenever you're on your knees, you're in the best position to pray.

• 9:38Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 9:38Bunnie XO?

  It is literally like, that has been the only thing that has gotten me through in any hard times in my life, is being able to call on Jesus and be like, "All right, big homie, I know we got this. I know you got this for me." Speaking about family and you being so close with your brothers and sisters, everybody knows you as Dolly the Icon, but how did they know you before all of this? Like, if they could describe you, how would they describe the Dolly that they grew up with?

• 10:05Speaker 02

  Well, I was just another one of those little ragged ass kids, you know, up there in the Smokies, you know, in the mountains. But we all, we all loved the music. I, I took it more serious, I think, because my Uncle Bill, one of my mom's brothers, he took a great interest in me because he saw me paying more attention to it than maybe some of the others did, because I was always trying to learn all the chords on a guitar, any kind of an instrument laying around. And so they knew me as somebody that's going to, you know, offer to do their chores if they'll come help me sing on a song, or if they'll add some background, or help me work up a background part that I thought of. I remember once, I had, when Pig Latin, when I was in school, somebody came up with Pig Latin and I-

• 10:50Bunnie XO?

  I never learned how to speak that.

• 10:52Speaker 02

  Well, I, I did, because I was fascinated with anything different.

• 10:56Bunnie XO?

  Can you tell me a second?

• 10:57Speaker 02

  I only learned, I only learned to do, "Yeah, I'm going to sing you a song in Pig Latin." But anyway, so I came up with- A song called Friendliest Enemy. And I wanted the backgrounds to be like, uh, she was my best friend to go with that in the background. So it was like, is she, I swear, I may, espe and fre, is she, I swear, I may, espe and fre, ooh. And that meant she was my best friend. But if the song was, she's the friendliest enemy I believe ever did see, and she'd better get my baby off her mind. Is she, I swear, I may, espe and fre. So anyway.

• 11:34Bunnie XO?

  That's a hit, Dolly.

• 11:35Speaker 02

  I had to, I had to get my sisters, cause they had to learn it. You know, they had to learn all that. And I had to offer to do their chores for a week or two, you know, for them to take the time to, to do it and just make them do it. So, you know, that, that kinda stuff. So they knew me as somebody that was always singing, always writing, always, you know, fidgety, I couldn't stay still, you know, I was just kind of always full of energy in life. But we all loved each other. We all had our own personalities. We all loved each other for the way we were, and that's how we still are. We all, some of us are a good mix, you know, well, we're all a good mix, but a lot of them are more like mama, mom's people, or some are more like dads, but I was a really good

• 12:19Speaker 02

  mix between the two, and I love that.

• 12:21Bunnie XO?

  Oh, that is perfect. And I, I really think you need to release that song in Pig Latin. Start a new trend again. The kids will love it.

• 12:27Speaker 02

  We actually did it up in, uh, as one of the shows in, at Dollywood when I was telling my life story. So we worked it in a couple of years ago.

• 12:36Bunnie XO?

  I love that.

• 12:37Speaker 02

  At the Dolly Show, and my nieces got such kick having, having to learn to sing it up there on the show. But everybody was singing it, because everybody tried to learn that little part.

• 12:46Bunnie XO?

  I love it. I know, I was so jealous of the people who could do Pig Latin, because I just couldn't do it. I just could not catch on to it or how to do it. So I, I'm just fascinated that you can.

• 12:54Speaker 02

  Well, I was a pig, so I learned Pig Latin.

• 12:56Bunnie XO?

  Stop it right now.

• 12:57Speaker 02

  Oh, I was. I was Farmer's Daughter.

• 12:59Bunnie XO?

  I love that.

• 13:16Bunnie XO?

  With medical experts and leading voices to talk about the health issues that matter most. Because UnPaused isn't just about the years you live, but how well you live them. Listen and follow UnPaused with me, Dr. Mary Claire Haver, wherever you get your podcasts. So you, circling back to your family, you helped raise, being from 12 children, you guys all took turns raising a baby, right? In the family, the oldest ones did, that is what I had read. And you had one specifically, your brother Larry, that you helped raise. Can we touch base on that whole situation a little bit?

• 13:57Speaker 02

  Well, I think, let me clear up a little bit. We all had, I have a sister and two brothers older than me.

• 14:02Bunnie XO?

  Yes.

• 14:03Speaker 02

  And there's eight kids younger. But we, Mama had so many kids, she, there was only 18 months, two years difference in our, in all of our ages. Mom and Daddy married when Mama was 15. She got, had her first baby at 16. And so, so they were just born one right after another. So, any older child had to help with whoever was coming along.

• 14:23Bunnie XO?

  Right.

• 14:24Speaker 02

  But the little, the one that was gonna be my baby, was little Larry.

• 14:28Bunnie XO?

  Yeah.

• 14:29Speaker 02

  He didn't live that long, actually. And, you know, he was just, he died at birth, but he was, I'd followed Mama around when she was pregnant the whole time. She said that was gonna be mine. I'd sing to it and I'd kiss on the belly and, you know, couldn't wait for my baby to come, but he didn't make it. And it just crushed me because I, that was when I, you know, I didn't understand about death and, you know, all of that. So, that was a real hit for me at that age, that I had lost my baby. I thought it was some, you know, I had a guilt thing about it somehow, that I'd done something wrong. But I think any child that goes through a thing like that, but we all grieved over him, not just me, but I, more than the others, because he was supposed to be mine. I was picturing how I was gonna rock him and how I was gonna sing him my songs and, you know, and all of that.

• 15:14Speaker 02

  But, but we loved all the kids and we all helped with all the kids.

• 15:21Bunnie XO?

  You've spoken about the influence of your family. So would you say that Larry's spirit and the memory of him has continued to impact you both personally and professionally? Because after that, he passed away when you were nine, correct? And then at ten is when you like started performing and kind of like, I don't know, I feel like maybe it was kind of like a push. Was that your way of dealing with the pain?

• 15:47Speaker 02

  No, no, I don't think that had anything to do with it. I was so musically oriented anyway, and I had my dreams. It did take me a while. I was so depressed as a little kid over that. Took me a while to kind of overcome that. I mean, you know, weeks, you know, months, kind of. Didn't really, I wasn't all that interested in stuff. But I don't think that had anything to do with the rest of my life. It just taught me about grief. You know, how we all have to learn those things at some age. And so that was, you know, that was a real hard hit. But no, that, after I got over the grief of that and I moved on, I knew he was in heaven. And, you know, we would, if Mama could handle it, certainly I could. You know, that kind of thing. But I just was ready to go on.

• 16:32Speaker 02

  And my Uncle Bill, you know, was pushing me on. He saw my desire and my dreams. And so we would, he would take me around, you know, to different local things to sing and on the local radio and TV. But all of those things helped to make up a human being, all those memories of the bad and the good. You know, I think that just all, you don't even know what, what parts they really play, the little things that happen. It just either, if nothing else, it makes your heart tender, or you know how you have to protect certain things. And it teaches you, you gotta know about those things.

• 17:09Bunnie XO?

  Yes, ma'am, I couldn't agree more. So, you know, at ten years old, you're starting to work with Uncle Bill and you guys are going around, you know, you're performing and stuff like that. At ten years old, a lot of kids are still figuring out who they are. How did you find your confidence to stand out and perform at such a young age like that?

• 17:29Speaker 02

  Well, I was always writing songs. I was always able to rhyme and Mama was always fascinated and there was always so much commotion in a house with that many kids.

• 17:40Bunnie XO?

  Oh, I can imagine.

• 17:41Speaker 02

  And none of us really got any real special attention unless we were in trouble or, you know, or something, you were gonna get called out for something. But I learned early on, Mama was always fascinated and, you know, when I'd sing these songs that I'd written, I'd, I was, I would hear people talk, I'd hear stories. So I was writing songs at eight, seven, eight, nine years old about people getting killed in the war and things that I'd never seen or done, but I was able to rhyme and write. And Mama would, she would always, I noticed early on that I'd get more attention because of that. And of course, everybody wants to be paid attention to, everybody wants to be special. So when somebody come to our house, Mama would often say, "Run and get your guitar."

• 18:26Speaker 02

  And then she'd say, whoever said, "I want you to hear this thing this little thing wrote. I want you to hear this song this little thing wrote." And so I'd be really just singing my song and I was getting all that extra attention, which is making some of the other kids jealous because they weren't doing it, but they didn't work as hard as I did. But learning them chords, I had a little calluses on my little fingers, you know, cut deep. They were hard, they hardened. I had, I had to really learn it till it, you know, hardens those calluses for you to play. So I took the time to do a lot of the things that some of the little, younger ones weren't willing to do. So I just saw that that was, and I got the confidence from Mama bragging on me and I, I knew that I could do something special.

• 19:11Speaker 02

  That some of them couldn't, you know, playing the guitar and all that. But I just, and then my Uncle Bill, he took great pride in me and anytime somebody would tell me, "Oh, you're gonna be good, you're this." I just kinda took that and my personality was very. You know, susceptible to that kind of stuff.

• 19:29Bunnie XO?

  Do you feel like you're an old soul because you were able to relate to those songs of like, people losing people in the war and stuff like that? Like, to be ten years old and writing songs like that, like, you would have to resonate with them in some way.

• 19:42Speaker 02

  Well, I'm just very perceptive and I had the gift of rhyme, as I mentioned, and I had the gift of song. And so, I would just hear things and you can always, you know, I was, I could kind of take a story from one other thing and I could change a few things around. So, I didn't feel like I was necessarily an old soul or that I had lived before or anything. I mean, I might have. I hope I did. Hope I might live again.

• 20:09Bunnie XO?

  Yeah, you will.

• 20:10Speaker 02

  Yeah. But, I just think I was just able to do that. Because I had a, I was very perceptive and receptive and I, I just had a very creative mind. You know, I, I, I had a great imagination. So, it wasn't hard for me to make up a bunch of junk.

• 20:28Bunnie XO?

  Well, being around twelve kids, I'm sure to even just get any sort of piece, you had to have a great imagination.

• 20:34Speaker 02

  Yeah, I'd sneak up because there was a lot of kids going on. I'd sneak out behind the woodshed or around the outhouse, sit back there, do whatever, you know, write my songs, find a shady spot or a warm spot. But, yeah, I was always into that guitar and always writing my songs.

• 20:49Bunnie XO?

  I love everything that you do is productive. I want my daughter to watch this, our daughter to watch this, because she's sixteen right now and she's still trying to find her place in this world. And I think it's awesome that, you know, you were so productive at such a young age. Can we talk about Uncle Bill? Because Uncle Bill really believed in you and he took you to all these shows and then he landed you in the Cast Walker Farm and Home Hour and you became a regular on that show. Can you take me on that journey?

• 21:20Speaker 02

  Well, Knoxville was about thirty miles from where we actually lived and I had an aunt that lived in Knoxville. That was where the show was from. And so, I would, in the summer, after I got to where I actually got the job, when I got old enough to be allowed to stay away from home, but God, I was so homesick. She, she worked at a At a, one of those store, department stores, and my uncle was a carpenter. So, I was there in tha- in that house, a lot, and I would go up to the top of the hill from where they lived and I'd catch a bus down to the radio station. Take my little guitar and, and I, I would go to, wa- walk across the Viaduct, I guess is

• 22:04Speaker 02

  what they call it, like this big bridge, have my little guitar and then I would, I would go do the Caswalka Show, uh, play my little guitar, do my songs, and Bill wasn't always with me then. Yeah. Bill was doing a lot of other things, but when I was working on the- Bill was living a full life. -walka show, yeah, well, he was do- he did some other things, but I could go there, and then the, the guys that, the Brewster Brothers especially, that worked with the Caswalka Show, they'd back me up and, you know, work with me, play in the songs or sing some with me, and then sometimes I'd wait, while I was waiting for the bus, I'd just open, I'd just get my guitar out to, to be singing, and some people would walk by and they'd think that I was standing on the corner, and they'd drop money in my guitar case, which

• 22:48Speaker 02

  I loved because then I'd go on home and buy those little Jiffy Burgers up at the top of the hill, uh, from where my aunt lived, th- they were like little crystal, white castle things, oh, that was the greatest thing, if I made enough, somebody threw enough money in, and then I got on to that, to where I'd just kinda, kinda play it. Just pretend. And I even, I even wrote a song with my brother Floyd called Nichols and Dimes, and it was about that, that time when I was walking across, but working with the Caswalka Show was amazing, Bill had taken me there, um, early on, before I got the job, he's the one that got me, as you, as you mentioned, got me on the Caswalka Show, and he'd take me to the, to the fair, the county fair, where I could, you know, join in contests

• 23:30Speaker 02

  and different things like that, and then eventually, he would take me back and forth to Nashville. Yeah, and so he just had, he saw that I was so serious about it. And he saw that I had potential and I just, and Bill was a great guitar player. Bill wrote great songs. We wrote great songs together. In fact, in nineteen, I guess it was sixty-seven, we won the Song of the Year, BMI Song of the Year, and put it off until tomorrow. Bill Phillips on Deco Records, he was a pretty big artist at the time. And so I got, when I had, we had sent the demo to him from when we'd just written it. Then they wanted me to sing on the demo.

• 24:09Speaker 02

  So that was kind of like my first kind of break of being heard, like on the, on the real radio. Everybody was, DJs were calling, who's the girl singing with Bill Phillips on the Bill Phillips song? So anyway, that was kind of a moment, too.

• 24:24Bunnie XO?

  That's awesome that Uncle Bill's been so pivotal in your career. That's amazing. At ten years old, being on the Cast Walker Show, who were some of your musical influences? Was there anybody that you wanted to be like, or did you have an idea of like, hey, I'm gonna pave my own way?

• 24:40Speaker 02

  Well, all of my people were very musical. And so I think some of my greatest influences were within my own family. My, I had an aunt, Dorothy Joel, one of my mom's sisters. Well, she played the banjo, she played the guitar, and she wrote great songs. And she was an evangelist. She also was a Pentecostal preacher.

• 25:00Bunnie XO?

  I love that.

• 25:01Speaker 02

  Yeah, and I used to, I was just totally influenced, you know, by her. But as far as some of the others, there were the Kitty, you know, there was Kitty Wales on the Grand Ole Opry, and Roy Acuff, and, and there was some, early on, after I got to out, to where we really had, had a little bit more exposure to, to big radio and all, there was a woman named Rose Maddox. She was, it was the Maddox Brothers and Rose. She worked with her brothers, and that was the first time I'd ever seen people dress in the rhinestones. They wore kind of western, kind of like the, how the Grand Ole Opry does. But they were the first ones I'd ever seen do that. And so, and they also put a show together, a little, they did a little bits, a little comedy

• 25:46Speaker 02

  and little things, and I thought that was amazing. So you, you find that now that I'm older, I look back and I, I find that I have just picked up bits and pieces from so many people through the years, and I've learned so much that I didn't realize, I'm like a sponge.

• 26:02Bunnie XO?

  Yeah.

• 26:02Speaker 02

  You know, I just, without even knowing that I'm doing it.

• 26:06Bunnie XO?

  Mm-hmm.

• 26:06Speaker 02

  And then later on, I'll do something, I'll think, oh, that reminds me so much of when I saw so and so, or, or, you know, you just learn, you just learn through watching.

• 26:16Bunnie XO?

  I always say we're like a masterpiece of all the art we pick up from each person. You know, it's just like little, little gems of their souls that we take with us and that, you know, we look back on and we're like, okay, this influenced this and this influenced that. So I love that you always give credit where credit's due, because I'm the same way. Like if I see, if anybody asks me, what's your look? I'm like, Dolly. I'm Dolly all day long, you know?

• 26:36Speaker 02

  Well, I wish I looked like you.

• 26:38Bunnie XO?

  Oh, stop it.

• 26:39Speaker 02

  You didn't need me for that.

• 26:40Bunnie XO?

  Oh, you look, listen, we could trade outfits right now and I'd be happy. I love this outfit right here.

• 26:44Speaker 02

  Well, yeah, we love God, I guess.

• 26:47Bunnie XO?

  Ah, absolutely, yes. So circling back, let's talk about the Grand Ole Opry, because you made your first appearance at the Grand Ole Opry when you were 13 years old. How was that for you, walking out on that stage at 13, being introduced by Johnny Cash?

• 27:03Speaker 02

  It was scary.

• 27:05Bunnie XO?

  Yeah, I can imagine.

• 27:06Speaker 02

  Yeah, I remember my heart was beating like a drum, but I always said my, my desire to do a thing is, has always been greater than my fear of it. So I just tried to hold on to, to that. I thought, well, I can't, I can't turn around in the middle of the stage and run back. I thought, I gotta finish it.

• 27:23Bunnie XO?

  It's kind of how I felt today.

• 27:24Speaker 02

  No matter what.

• 27:25Bunnie XO?

  I was so scared.

• 27:27Speaker 02

  Oh, no.

• 27:28Bunnie XO?

  In a good way, though. I feel like if you're not, if you're not scared of what, what you're doing, you're not growing.

• 27:33Speaker 02

  Well, I agree with that. But anyway, that was scary. That was big. That was, you know, working with, just being around all those big girls, but I was also in awe of it.

• 27:41Bunnie XO?

  Yeah.

• 27:42Speaker 02

  And I, like I said, of course, I mean, I was this country kid. You know, you're always nervous when you, first time you ever eat in a restaurant around. People you're not used to knowing how to do that, what spoons and forks and even to this day, I still don't know. When I go to these big fine meals and all that, but I figure, well, I wouldn't be here if I wasn't a star, so to hell with them. I'm gonna eat what I eat and do have to.

• 28:07Speaker 02

  But I still would like to know those things, but I just never wanted, and now I don't care. You know, that I, you know, sometimes you think, ooh.

• 28:14Bunnie XO?

  Gets to a point where you've earned.

• 28:15Speaker 02

  You just kind of watch other people. That's how you, how you learn. It's like, oh, I watch them and when they pick that up, I'll fix that up and I'll do this and I'll do that.

• 28:24Bunnie XO?

  I could never, I could not point out a solid fork to you if somebody paid me. I don't know how to do that either.

• 28:28Speaker 02

  That's what I'm saying. I just kind of watch. If it's a big old, big thing, like if I'm invited to eat the royal family or something, you think. I'm very uncomfortable. But so I mean, I better watch so I don't make a fool of myself. Or them.

• 28:44Bunnie XO?

  So circling back to the Opry, um, Johnny Cash introduced you. And he's known for his powerful presence and mentorship. What do you remember about your interaction with him that night? And did he say anything to you that stuck with you throughout your career?

• 29:00Speaker 02

  He said hello. That stuck with me because at that time, I thought, see, I had seen Johnny Cash. Uh, at another time when we were sitting in the audience and I had the biggest crush on him.

• 29:12Bunnie XO?

  Oh, my goodness.

• 29:12Speaker 02

  Cause he had so much magnetism and I was young, you know, I was just beginning to feel those hormones. Look at, you know, to where you feel those things. I never felt.

• 29:21Bunnie XO?

  Very masculine energy.

• 29:23Speaker 02

  Well, he did, you know, he had all that, you know, movement and all. I found out later it's because he was coming off drugs. He was just had twitches of what I thought was magnetism.

• 29:35Speaker 02

  But there was some truth in that. I think, you know, the way he was kind of.

• 29:39Bunnie XO?

  He was a Pisces, right?

• 29:41Speaker 02

  But I loved him and I, and as for years and years, I told him he was my first crush and he was. And then, uh, so, uh, in my, um, Broadway musical, The Life Story, I, I cover that. About Johnny touching me on the shoulder. I mean, it made, just changed my life. Because I wanted. I thought I was grown then, you know, because I felt all those feelings. But he was, uh, he was a real nice guy and very quiet. But I became best friends with June and Johnny after. So as the years went by, you know, we, we would visit and we liked each other a lot.

• 30:18Bunnie XO?

  She was a good woman. I really, I really admire her.

• 30:21Speaker 02

  She was a loud mouth like me.

• 30:21Bunnie XO?

  Yeah.

• 30:22Speaker 02

  So we got along just fine. And Johnny, I remember where somebody said something about Johnny, don't you get tired of hearing June talk all the time? And he said, no, I do some of my best thinking when June's talking. So.

• 30:36Bunnie XO?

  Speaking like a true man.

• 30:37Speaker 02

  But I think, I think he does some of his best thinking when I'm talking.

• 30:42Bunnie XO?

  Yeah, I think that's how all husbands are. They just tune us out, you know, they're just so used to us.

• 30:46Speaker 02

  I'm sure they do.

• 30:47Bunnie XO?

  Um, when you performed that night, did you already have a sense of like the legacy that you wanted to build in country music? Or did that experience at the Opry shift your perspective on what was possible for you as an artist? Because.

• 31:01Speaker 02

  At that time, I was just so nervous and, and I reflected on that years later, as I still do.

• 31:07Bunnie XO?

  Yeah.

• 31:07Speaker 02

  But at that time, it was just a big deal, you know, to be there on, at the Grand Ole Opry with all those big name artists. And, uh, so I, I think that I, I was just, it was just kind of addling at that time. I was just kind of addled about the whole thing. But I knew that that was, you know, just like when I got my encore on the Cas Walker Show, the first time I was on there. And I thought, oh, boy, you know, I'm gonna, I'm gonna be a star. And now I, years later, I realized they weren't applauding so much because I was good. It was just because I was little. You know, no, it wasn't because I wasn't, you know, you have to develop and grow. But you know how everybody wants to be good to a kid?

• 31:48Bunnie XO?

  Mm-hmm.

• 31:49Speaker 02

  And the fact that I was out there doing it, I think they, uh, you know, that people were just extra nice. And I think a whole lot of that might've been so with the Opry. It was just kind of cute when you see a young.

• 31:59Bunnie XO?

  Yeah.

• 31:59Speaker 02

  Person doing something. So, but I did feel, and I, I thought back on it shortly after, thinking, wow, you know, I was on the Grand Ole Opry and they liked me.

• 32:10Bunnie XO?

  They asked you for three encores.

• 32:12Speaker 02

  This is what I, I want to do.

• 32:13Bunnie XO?

  Yeah, they asked you for three encores after your first performance there.

• 32:17Speaker 02

  No, I'm joking. They asked, no, actually they did applaud and I kept singing the same, you know, last verse a couple of times.

• 32:27Bunnie XO?

  She's like, this is all you get.

• 32:28Speaker 02

  I practiced.

• 32:30Bunnie XO?

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• 33:16Bunnie XO?

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• 34:00Bunnie XO?

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• 34:45Bunnie XO?

  And you graduated from high school, correct? And then you ended up moving to Nashville. And you moved to Nashville with, you know, minimal amounts of money. How did you make ends meet in those early days?

• 34:57Speaker 02

  And were there any creative or unexpected ways you found to survive while pursuing your dreams out there? Well, I was lucky because there are so many songwriters in Nashville and publishing companies and a lot of the people that write songs are not good singers. So, all the publishing companies, they hire, if there's song, female songs, that you can get a job singing those songs. So, I got work through Tree Publishing Company. Buddy Killen was a dear friend and so he would get me on these sessions singing some of the songs that these writers had written, singing the girl songs. And then I didn't have a car, didn't have a phone, didn't have anything.

• 35:42Speaker 02

  And so, all these musicians, because I was a right pretty girl at that time, you know, this young girl and, you know. Still are beautiful. And so, I had all these musicians that were on the sessions, always willing to drive me home. Always willing to stop shows, buy me a burger. Some of them thinking they might get more, but, and some of them might have, but that was not because I... Lucky fellows. I know, but I'm serious, it's like, they were always so good to me. Everybody seemed to know that I, my heart was in a good place and that I was just a country girl. I was funny, you know, I was always cracking jokes or, you know, just being, well, like I am now, really. But everybody got a kick out of me, so I was just one of the boys, because I had six

• 36:26Speaker 02

  brothers and all my uncles and my grandpa. I was not a bit shy around the men and I knew how to, you know, how to maneuver with all that. So, so I made money and then I also got on a small salary with Tree Publishing Company in those early days. And then later, I got with the Combine Music. Um, Fred Foster.

• 36:49Bunnie XO?

  Mm-hmm.

• 36:49Speaker 02

  Monument Records, they had a publishing company, so I got, I was lucky that I always got a little bit of a salary as a writer of my own songs. In addition to being able to sing some of the demos.

• 37:01Bunnie XO?

  She's like, I figured it out, sister. I did what I had to do.

• 37:04Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 37:05Bunnie XO?

  I love that so much.

• 37:06Speaker 02

  I used to go, uh, in the early, early days, I would walk down to the hotels and I would walk through the hallways. And I would, uh, see all the trays out on the, out in front of the doors and any food that, uh, you know, like all those little mustard and ketchup packets and bottles. I'd take those all back and anything that looked like, you know, that was pretty decent to still eat. I would get it. I would just kind of get a call, get a napkin off of the tray and, and put it all in my purse, so.

• 37:37Bunnie XO?

  Yeah, just whatever you had to do to survive.

• 37:40Speaker 02

  And there was a, a restaurant, uh, down around, uh, 12th Avenue at that time. And, uh, this was different places I lived, but that right above the hill, it was called Cowser's. It became very famous. It was a meet and three and the two, the Cowser brothers owned it. And I would walk down there and they liked me. And so they would give me free food. They would give me a good meal. But I would clean off the tables and I would refill the salt and pepper shakes. And I would, uh, you know, do all the things that you, you know, do like that. So I could, I would do that. I didn't get it for money, but I got good food and then they'd pack me stuff to take home too.

• 38:18Bunnie XO?

  Oh, that is so sweet. I never knew what a meet and three was until I moved to Nashville. My husband was like, we're gonna go to a meet and three. And I was like, what is that? I love them now. I think the concept is so awesome. I think they need them all over, everywhere, not just in the South, like on the West Coast and everywhere. I think it, they would just be a hit.

• 38:36Speaker 02

  But I guess if somebody out there don't know what a meet and three is.

• 38:39Bunnie XO?

  Yeah, oh, yes.

• 38:40Speaker 02

  Wherever the choice of meat, whether it be meatloaf and it's like three, three vegetables, three side dishes you're getting.

• 38:46Bunnie XO?

  Yes.

• 38:47Speaker 02

  But yeah, all of those terms, I never, I remember once my, I was on the road with one of my brothers. And, um, we were just, he played the bass in my first, one of my first bands. And we'd stopped at a truck stop and he had, I guess he looked at the menu and it had had corned beef, corned beef and cabbage.

• 39:06Bunnie XO?

  Mm-hmm.

• 39:07Speaker 02

  When they brought it and he said, "Well, where's my corn?" Because he didn't know it was corned, corned beef fried from corn.

• 39:14Bunnie XO?

  Corned beef, yeah.

• 39:15Speaker 02

  Yeah, it was corned beef and cabbage and he said, "Well, where's my corn?" She said, "Well, did you want corn, sir?" He said, "Well, it says corn."

• 39:22Bunnie XO?

  He took it literal.

• 39:23Speaker 02

  Yeah, we always, there's jokes about those things with country boys coming to Nashville to tell their stories.

• 39:31Bunnie XO?

  So, switching gears, um, we're gonna, we're gonna talk about Carl for a second because you, you came to Nashville. Did you think coming to Nashville, you were gonna meet the love of your life?

• 39:43Speaker 02

  No.

• 39:44Bunnie XO?

  As soon as you came here?

• 39:45Speaker 02

  I left two boyfriends back home that had wanted to marry me and I kept saying, "No, I'm gonna move to Nashville," you know, when I, you know, I mean, a different, uh, well, I left two boyfriends.

• 39:56Bunnie XO?

  I love that there was two of them.

• 39:58Speaker 02

  And I thought, yeah, well, I, you know, I dated, but not at the same time, but they were like in that.

• 40:02Bunnie XO?

  It's okay if you did.

• 40:03Speaker 02

  They both, well, I know, that's true too.

• 40:07Speaker 02

  But my point is, uh, that I thought, well, the last thing I want is a boyfriend. I gotta, you know, because I'm leaving two boyfriends here and I kept saying, "No, I'm going to Nashville." And so I got here and I thought, well, that's the last thing, I'm gonna get caught up with some boy, you know, till I get my feet on the ground, get things going. And the very day I got to Nashville, I met Carl Dean. And sixty years later, I'm still with Carl Dean. But that's the one that took, yeah, we've been together sixty years, we've been married fifty-eight, going on, uh...

• 40:42Bunnie XO?

  That's six decades.

• 40:44Speaker 02

  Yeah, well, but it took.

• 40:48Speaker 02

  But anyway, he's a good guy and, you know, he's quiet and I'm loud and, uh, we just, we're funny, oh, he's hilarious. And I think one of the things that's made it last so long through the years is that we love each other, we respect each other, but we have a lot of fun.

• 41:03Bunnie XO?

  Yeah.

• 41:03Speaker 02

  Anytime things get too... Uh, too much tension going on.

• 41:09Bunnie XO?

  Yeah.

• 41:09Speaker 02

  We, either one of us can like find the, a joke about it.

• 41:13Bunnie XO?

  Yeah.

• 41:14Speaker 02

  To where it breaks the tension and where it's not, we don't let it go. You know, so far, we never fought back and forth. And I'm glad now.

• 41:21Bunnie XO?

  That's amazing.

• 41:22Speaker 02

  That we never did, cause once you start that. That becomes a lifetime thing. I've seen it with so many people. And I thought, I ain't ever starting that. I don't, I can't, I couldn't bear to, you know, think that he'd say something I couldn't take, you know?

• 41:37Bunnie XO?

  Yeah.

• 41:37Speaker 02

  It would hurt, you know, cause I'm a very sensitive person toward other people and myself. You know, I mean, you don't, you know, you may hurt people's feelings not knowing it. But knowingly, you don't do it. Yeah.

• 41:49Bunnie XO?

  Yeah, absolutely. Jay and I always say you have to be comfortable with having uncomfortable conversations and you have to be best friends. Like that, best friends before lovers. Like you have to remember why you fell in love with each other. And we have, we're, we're only eight years in, but I can't wait to be sixty years in with them like you and Carl. In a world where love and marriage is often romanticized, what do you think was the most important, but sometimes overlooked aspect of you and Carl's relationship?

• 42:19Speaker 02

  Well, he was the homebody. And that worked well for us. You know, cause he was in, uh, well, he was in asphalt paving. But he just, his sign, I don't know if anybody out there that goes by astrology or pay attention to that. Well, he's Cancer and I'm Capricorn. And those are compatible.

• 42:36Bunnie XO?

  Soulmates.

• 42:37Speaker 02

  Signs, yeah. Cause I, uh, the Capricorn is the mountain goat and it's always climbing, wanting to look down on the other side. And the Cancer is more of a homebody. And he really was, he never, he loved to go places if we were gonna drive cross country or go where, if we had planned a thing. But boy, he can't, he never could wait to get home. You know, he wanted to be around home. And I wanted, I'm a gypsy by nature. I just loved to go and loved to see what else is out there. But, um, I think that he's just, that's, that's worked well for us. He's not the least, he loves music, but he's not the least bit interested in being in it. And he told me that right up front. I begged him to go with me in sixty-seven. We'd got,

• 43:22Speaker 02

  We got married in sixty six, so that's when I got won the first award for the BMI Song of the Year. And I rented him a tux and, you know, begged him to go, and he did, and, oh, he was so uncomfortable. The whole night, I mean, we, as soon as we got hit the door, he started pulling off stuff. You know, and he thought, he was just so, he said, "Look, now I want you to do everything you want to do, and I wish you the best, but don't ever ask me to go to another one of these damn things, because I ain't going." And he never did. So, we just kind of have that respect. And I respected that, because I didn't know he was going to be that uneasy. But he doesn't even like to go out to, you know, to big dinners or anything like that.

• 44:05Speaker 02

  So even on anniversaries and stuff like that, we usually stay home and make something special. Do something special like that. But he does, or go to McDonald's, or go somewhere we want to go that's comfortable. Or to go to, now, we will go to Mexican restaurants, he does. He will go in, sit in a booth and do that, he loves that.

• 44:22Bunnie XO?

  Does Carl love nachos?

• 44:24Speaker 02

  Yeah, he does. He loves Mexican food, period. But we go, you know, we'll go sit in a booth, like if it's an anniversary, or just sometimes on a Saturday, we just go, we know where to go when, before the crowd comes. He doesn't like big crowds. But anyway, he's just special to me, and I just love him like he is.

• 44:44Bunnie XO?

  You light up whenever you talk about him.

• 44:46Speaker 02

  Well, yeah.

• 44:47Bunnie XO?

  I love to see that.

• 44:48Speaker 02

  He's good. Everybody loves Carl.

• 44:50Bunnie XO?

  What's something that you would want the world to know about Carl that they don't know?

• 44:54Speaker 02

  He don't want me to tell the world nothing about Carl.

• 44:57Bunnie XO?

  I love that. I love that he's such a private person.

• 45:00Speaker 02

  Yeah, he is. I mean, he can, I can talk what I want to, but he'll say, "Just leave me out of the whole damn thing, don't, don't," he would say, "Don't say nothing I said." But I do all the time, because he's funny.

• 45:11Bunnie XO?

  Yeah. Oh, I love that so much. And I also wanted to tell you, I always tell everybody, whenever they give me, they're like, "Oh, you're like a young Dolly." And I'm like, "Dolly's birthday is January seventeenth, mine's January twenty-second." So we're on the same cusp, and I, that's like always my thing. I'm like, "I'm just like Dolly," like, I love that. So we have the same cusp that we're on, the seventeenth through the twenty-second. So moving on from sweet Carl.

• 45:36Bunnie XO?

  Okay, gotcha.

• 45:37Speaker 02

  Oh, boy, we could talk forever.

• 45:39Bunnie XO?

  I know, there's so much I wanted to talk to you about. So, you and I, um, your signature look, the big hair, the bold makeup, and all that stuff. Um, you now have your own makeup line that we have sitting in front of us right now. And can you show me some of your products? Because I am really excited about learning.

• 46:00Speaker 02

  Well, there's a whole bunch of stuff.

• 46:01Bunnie XO?

  There's so much stuff.

• 46:02Speaker 02

  I know, we got the lipsticks, you know, we got great lipstick. And, and so we've got all the beautiful colors. And we have these wonderful glosses too, with all the, the different colors. But I, I have always wanted to have my own line of makeup. And I love lipstick, and you do too, and I love gloss, and I love the shine, and, and I love all the beautiful things. And we don't have the full line that we will eventually have. But we started out with our lipsticks and with our glosses. And so we're gonna have a, a line of everything as, as we got our eyeliners in the different colors. And so, we've got great stuff. So have you not had a chance to see any of them?

• 46:41Bunnie XO?

  I did, I did get to see it. They wanted me to, like, look at these with you.

• 46:45Speaker 02

  I'm afraid I'll walk everything over if I try to get them.

• 46:47Bunnie XO?

  No, you're good.

• 46:48Speaker 02

  Oh, look at these, I love these.

• 46:50Bunnie XO?

  Right here, I mean, you, Dolly, your name is on everything. There's nothing that you haven't covered. I just want to tell you, your Dolly Parton brownies, though, are, I brag about them on my podcast all the time. I will eat those brownies any time of day.

• 47:02Speaker 02

  Pop those up, I hope they, hope it pops.

• 47:05Bunnie XO?

  Oh, wait.

• 47:05Speaker 02

  Our nails are too long.

• 47:06Bunnie XO?

  Sequoia actually showed me how to do those, yes, there we go.

• 47:09Speaker 02

  Yeah, and, and don't you love these, the rhinestones?

• 47:12Bunnie XO?

  So beautiful.

• 47:13Speaker 02

  I always make my joke of them, I never leave a rhinestone unturned. And it's got my little name there. But that's the color that would fit you, that's the Jolene red.

• 47:21Bunnie XO?

  Yes.

• 47:21Speaker 02

  You know, we thought, well, we had to have, have a Jolene color. And then we got our beautiful gold glosses and, you know, all the things that go with them. And we have different colors, you know, of the, of the lipsticks. We have the gold dust in the gloss, and a rose petal, which is real, real pink. And, uh, so we have all... Different things that we have for for that, so.

• 47:45Bunnie XO?

  So moving on from the lipsticks because I mean, and we always need a lipstick stained wine glass. You are selling wine now to.

• 47:55Speaker 02

  Lipstick stained wine glass.

• 47:56Bunnie XO?

  We need the lipstick stained wine glass.

• 47:58Speaker 02

  We have our Chardonnay. We have the accolades Wine Company and I went in business together. And this is one that's really, really nice. And eventually, you know, we're like with the makeup, we're starting out with certain ones, but then eventually we'll have all the the things. But right now, we we're we have our Chardonnay and you can get that in in easy stores like Kroger's and stores like that.

• 48:22Bunnie XO?

  Yes.

• 48:23Speaker 02

  And in the in the wine and beer stores.

• 48:26Bunnie XO?

  So we were also smelling backstage, we were, we opened up your.

• 48:30Speaker 02

  That's the good one. Yeah, that's my, that was my original.

• 48:33Bunnie XO?

  Yes.

• 48:34Speaker 02

  And now this is the, they're doing this as a, you know, special thing. This one's just a collect, kind of almost like a collector's item and I can't, I can't wait for everybody to try this.

• 48:47Bunnie XO?

  This is the one we tried in the dressing room and it smells so good. I love everything that you've done, everything that you've branded your name on. You have cookbooks. I mean, you have children's books. There's so many people that messaged me when they found out on my Patreon that we were going to be doing this podcast together. And they wanted me to thank you for the imagination books that you have.

• 49:07Speaker 02

  The Imagination Library. I'm as proud of that as anything I've ever done. Where we give books to children from the time they're born till they start school.

• 49:14Bunnie XO?

  Yes.

• 49:14Speaker 02

  And yeah, we've given over, I think, two hundred fifty million books out since we started.

• 49:19Bunnie XO?

  Yes.

• 49:20Speaker 02

  But that's all good. But I'm very proud of all the things we got in the little Billy the Kid books. It's based on stories that I've, children's songs that I've written. Well, the Christmas one is based on a song I wrote, but the others are children's things that they need to know about.

• 49:36Bunnie XO?

  Yes.

• 49:37Speaker 02

  And I mean, if you've got a good book and you've got makeup and you've got perfume and you've got wine, what else do you need?

• 49:42Bunnie XO?

  I need some of your Jolene's.

• 49:44Speaker 02

  Well, you too. Oh, the Jolene jeans.

• 49:47Bunnie XO?

  I need some of the Jolene's. They're coming out soon, so I need them.

• 49:50Speaker 02

  They're called Jolene's jeans.

• 49:52Bunnie XO?

  I love it.

• 49:53Speaker 02

  Yeah. And you probably got a pretty butt, so they'll probably look good on you.

• 49:57Bunnie XO?

  Well, I got hips and I got hips. So we need to slap some hips in them.

• 50:01Speaker 02

  I think that'll look good on everybody. I gotta get me some of those too.

• 50:04Bunnie XO?

  I love it so much.

• 50:05Speaker 02

  Jolene, boy, for a hussy that's trying to steal my man, she's gone. She's done pretty good by me, ain't she?

• 50:11Bunnie XO?

  I think Jolene might be your alter ego.

• 50:14Speaker 02

  She might be.

• 50:16Bunnie XO?

  Ms. Dolly, thank you so much for giving me your time. And I appreciate you. And thank you so much for just letting me be in your world for a little bit today.

• 50:23Speaker 02

  Well, thank you for being in mine. And we're not dumb blondes.

• 50:26Bunnie XO?

  No.

• 50:26Speaker 02

  Not by a long shot.

• 50:27Bunnie XO?

  No, we are not.

• 50:28Speaker 02

  But anyway, I love the title of your show. And you have a huge following. And I was honored that you wanted me to be on the show.

• 50:34Bunnie XO?

  Thank you. I appreciate you so much.

• 50:36Speaker 02

  Now I want to be more like you.

• 50:37Bunnie XO?

  No, you are so sweet. I think I'm just going to continue to just walk in your footsteps and do whatever I can to be more Dolly-like. I always think, what would Dolly do? So.

• 50:47Speaker 02

  My Lord, I'll do anything.

• 50:49Bunnie XO?

  Me too. That's what got me here, so.

• 50:53Bunnie XO?

  Thank you, Ms. Dolly.

• 50:54Speaker 02

  Thank you.

• 50:55Bunnie XO?

  Thank you, guys, for tuning into another episode of Dumb Blonde. I will see you, guys, next week. Bye.

• 51:03Bunnie XO?

  Running my own merch store has taught me a lot about what goes into having an online business, especially when the holidays roll around. With my store at bunnyxo.com, I know how important it is to have everything ready before the holiday shopping rush. And one thing I've learned is that you don't want to wait until Black Friday to get started. One of my favorite things is having everything in one place when you're running a business. You already have a million things going on, so the last thing you want is for managing your storefront to be one more thing to stress about. Shopify makes it easy to get your store launched, manage it, and actually focus on selling. That's why I love having Shopify behind my storefront. It gives me a place to showcase my merch and make it easy for my customers to shop. Shopify helps you launch a store and start selling in a few simple steps without needing

• 51:48Bunnie XO?

  to be an e-commerce expert. Shopify pre-built themes and AI Site Builder can make it easier to create a professional storefront. Launching before Black Friday means you can take advantage of the extra online traffic. If you're ready to launch your business before Black Friday, go to Shopify.com/BUNNIE to start your free trial. That's Shopify.com/Bunny. Go to Shopify.com/Bunny today to hear your first.