I would meet Dolly Parton, and I would skip the fame small talk entirely. I want to know how one person writes “Jolene” and “I Will Always Love You” on the same day, then goes on to build a theme park, a literacy program, and a wig empire. That is not a career. That is a hostile takeover of joy.

I would ask for her schedule. Not the secrets, just the actual calendar, because I currently struggle to answer two emails before lunch. Then I would ask what she does when she is tired, and I suspect the answer is a rhinestone and a nap.

Mostly I would want to sit across from someone who found a way to be completely herself at enormous volume and got paid for it. I would bring snacks. She would probably bring a song about the snacks. I would leave with a very ambitious to-do list and zero regrets.