Remembering Dolly Parton: The Roots Behind Our Business — and Our Giving

As a native East Tennessean, I've always looked to Dolly Parton as a beacon for what's possible—no matter where you come from, what you have, or what anyone says you're allowed to become. But what has always meant the most to me is that she never treated success as a reason to leave her origins behind. She carried them with her: in her songwriting, in the stories she told, and, above all, in the way she gave back.

Her generosity went far beyond charity. She built real, lasting opportunities for people to work, to read, to learn, and to imagine a bigger life for themselves. She understood that where you come from isn't something you transcend—it's something you honor by making room for the people who come after you.

That example became a north star for me. When I started my jewelry business, I named it after my grandparents—people who couldn't have cared less about diamonds or gold, but who cared deeply about story, honesty, hard work, and craft. I spent much of my childhood on their farm in East Tennessee, and those years shaped both who I am and the values behind Glen & Effie. Dolly's belief that you can go out into the world without ever forgetting the people and place that made you is a large part of why giving back to East Tennessee matters so much to me today.

Through our end-of-year giving, we support educational opportunities for young people in East Tennessee pursuing agriculture—whether through higher education or within their own communities. In our own small way, we're trying to do what Dolly did on an extraordinary scale: plant seeds of opportunity in the place that first planted them in us.

East Tennessee—and the world—has lost one of its brightest lights, but Dolly showed generations of us that our roots don't determine how far we can go—they remind us what we're responsible for when we get there. Her life was proof that you can build a life as big as you dare to dream and still remain, wholeheartedly, a part of the place that made you.

We will always love you, Dolly.

-Brooke