They came for summer jobs and stayed 40 years: Meet Dollywood’s original dream team
- Several employees have worked at Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, for all 40 seasons.
- Dollywood is consistently ranked a top workplace by Forbes, Newsweek and Paste BN.
- Dolly Parton credits the park’s success to its employees, who she said make guests feel welcome.
Rodney Pearson played bass fiddle in a bluegrass band with a group of other 15-year-olds when he took a summer job at an amusement park in Sevier County. The year was 1976.
Nearly 50 years later – and reaching retirement next year – Pearson is still working at that same park. Only now he is a construction supervisor, and the Goldrush Junction amusement park has evolved into Dollywood.
“I’ve seen a lot,” Pearson told Knox News, part of the Paste BN Network. “When it was Goldrush, there was just pea gravel everywhere on the ground … Dolly (Parton) came in, and the place has just grown by leaps and bounds.”
And he’s not alone. Six original Dollywood employees gathered in February before the park kicked off its 40th season to celebrate the park’s success and to share why they’ve never wanted to work anywhere else.
‘It just became my second home’
Pamela Wilson didn’t exactly know what she wanted to do after graduating from high school. Growing up a few miles from Silver Dollar City, another precursor to Dollywood, she and her twin sister thought to give the park a try.
Wilson worked the remote-controlled boats on her first day at Silver Dollar City. Now, she works in Dollywood's maintenance department. “It was going to be a summer job for me. It's been a long summer,” she joked.
“I just love people. I love interacting with the guests and the hosts, and I got some wonderful friends that I've made here,” Wilson explained. “It just became my second home.”
Kathy Self also started when the park operated as Silver Dollar City. She started in 1984 in the culinary department. She’s currently one of the people helping to keep the popular park beautiful as a landscaper. But she's also gotten to work in other areas over the decades, including during the construction of new attractions and preparing for seasonal festivals.
“I've learned so much,” Self said. “Stuff that I would have never got to do otherwise. It's an added bonus to me.”
And working with friends you’ve known for over 40 years isn’t too bad, either.
“I feel like I've grown up with them,” Wilson said. " If you're having a hard time or anything … there's a part of you that just warms up because you've known these people for so long and they’ve become a part of your heart.”
“You know you got somebody that you can call on if you needed someone,” Self added.
What makes Dollywood a top workplace?
Dollywood Parks & Resorts is often recognized for the treatment of its 4,000-plus employees. Already in 2025, it has been named a top workplace by Paste BN, Forbes and Newsweek.
Some of the perks of working at Dollywood include 100% free tuition through the park’s Herschend’s GROW U program, a comprehensive benefits package for full-time employees, a portion of child care costs covered and leadership development opportunities.
“The main thing, I think, is the culture of the park. It's always been leading with love,” Wilson said. “How many companies do you work for that they share the profits with you? And they provide good benefits for us. And they are a company that does have love at heart."
Wilson recalled how Dollywood co-owner Jack Herschend once knew exactly how long she had worked at the company when even she couldn’t remember and how the company often sends notes to employees thanking them for their service.
This family-like quality of Dollywood is extremely important to the park’s Dreamer-in-Chief, Dolly Parton.
“It's like family. You don't leave your family. If you love your family and you're treated good in the family, you're going to want to stay there,” Parton told Knox News in March while expressing her appreciation for Dollywood employees.
“God has blessed me through the years with wonderful people. I have – my whole life, in every aspect of my business – I have been blessed with so many great people and nobody more than the group that we have here at Dollywood,” Parton continued.
Building Dollywood for 40 years
Being part of Dollywood’s 40 seasons and seeing its growth has been an honor for Pearson, Self and Wilson.
“We actually had hands in (building) it,” Self noted, explaining how original employees have contributed to expanding sections of the park, construction of rides and annual upgrades during the off-season.
“It does feel like (Dollywood is) a part of who you are,” Wilson added, especially after seeing from where the park began.
“A fast day for Silver Dollar City would have been like 10,000 people. And now that's a slow day for Dollywood,” she said. “It’s just amazing to see how it's changed and grown and so many different shops and so many varieties of things that they offer to people.”
Dollywood isn’t slowing down any time soon, either. A new attraction described as the park’s “most ambitious" and "most expensive" addition ever is coming in 2026.
Parton is very clear that a major key to the park’s growth and success has been its employees.
“People in this area are just great people, period. They're just good people. And then you put them on a park to welcome guests, you feel that,” Parton said. “You feel that they really mean it when they say, ‘Well, welcome (to Dollywood).’”
Devarrick Turner is a trending news reporter. Email devarrick.turner@knoxnews.com. On X, formerly known as Twitter @dturner1208.