Dolly Parton is reflecting back on her illustrious career and the harsh criticism she had to move past in order to succeed.

The country icon opened up about her fifty-year career on the "Work Life with Adam Grant" podcast, where she revealed the worst piece of professional advice she was ever given--and why she ignored it. She explained,

“The main advice that people wanted to give me was to change my look – to go simpler with my hair and the way that I dress, not to look so cheap, nobody was ever going to take me seriously they would say."

Parton elaborated that, like in her song "Backwoods Barbie," her style is "a country girl’s idea of glam." She continued,

“It was really like a look I was after. I wasn’t a natural beauty. I just like to look the way I look. I’m so outgoing inside, I need the way I look to match all of that.”

Parton also opened up about how she handles burnout, and working on multiple projects at once. She said, referencing her iconic movie "9 to 5,"

“I’ve got so many irons in the fire that sometimes I’m burning my own butt. I have to get up earlier, I have to work longer, and I have to have a bigger cup of ambition in the morning to get it all done."

Parton claimed she "doesn't have time for burnout," stating instead that she's "burning up." As she explained,

“I’m a creative person and every new thing will create something else […] energy begets energy and creativity begets creativity, so I just really have to stay with it because I want to see things happen, I want to make things happen.”

Parton’s simple secret to success: Don’t take yourself too seriously. As for her what she wishes she did different, she shared,

“I like to enjoy my work, I like to have it be fun, and I like the people around me to have fun doing it. My biggest regret is I have no regrets.”