Danielle Parton inspires curiosity

By Sara Burgos

More than 75 women gathered at Frontiers of Flight Museum in late August for the Après Flight Club’s “Bubbles & Brainpower” event featuring American Airlines pilot, military veteran and Shine Girl Distillery founder and moonshiner Danielle Parton (pictured above). Parton is the niece of Dolly Parton, who died just days after the event. Après Flight Club is the women’s collective of the museum, dedicated to supporting STEM education programs that inspire curiosity, confidence and opportunity. Guests mingled and sipped bubbles, wine and iced tea while sampling hors d’oeuvres before the speaking portion of the program commenced. Museum President Abigail Erickson-Torres greeted guests and spoke about the mission of the Après Flight Club — to fund STEM programming for girls at the Museum. She introduced Najdi Rafaty, chair of Après Flight Club, who welcomed Parton and Museum Chief Advancement Officer Cameron Hernholm for a fireside chat.

Parton is a Tennessee Air National Guard veteran who has operated the C-130 and C-5 aircraft around the world and in combat. She became an Aircraft Commander in 2012, has deployed multiple times in harm’s way and spent thousands of hours in the pilot seat. In 2014, she began flying for American Airlines.

During the fireside chat, Parton told stories about her journey to become a pilot and how she later launched her moonshine business, Shine Girl, using a Parton family recipe. Her candid and often humorous stories drew frequent laughter from the crowd.

After graduating from college as the first person in her family to do so, Parton was working at Hooters. She was sent home from work one day for “being a smart aleck” and decided she wanted to become a flight attendant. “I figured out that pilots and flight attendants had the same lifestyle, but one had a much better job,” Parton said. So, she set out to become a pilot, becoming licensed in small aircraft before joining the Tennessee Air National Guard.

Asked about navigating male-dominated careers, Parton said she never felt she needed to fit into a man’s world. She grew up believing she had her own voice and could be successful while embracing her femininity. “I’ve never done a checkride without a pedicure and I’ve never done a checkride barefoot,” Parton said, adding that she wears makeup every day.

Parton also spoke warmly about the influence of her aunt, Dolly Parton, who was one of 12 children alongside Danielle’s father. 

Danielle shared that seeing what her aunt accomplished gave her the mindset from an early age that she could do anything and be anyone she wanted to be. Both sides of Parton’s family were at one point in the moonshine business. Living in Nashville, Parton passed a sign for a moonshiner near her hometown and decided she’d try to recreate the Parton family recipe. It took her nine years, but she finally opened Shine Girl, a distillery in Sevierville, Tenn.

Parton’s definition of success is “not having to do my own plumbing. I haven’t got there yet.” When she achieves something, she doesn’t take time to celebrate, instead working to turn that success into another. In her profession as a pilot, she said she had to work twice as hard to be in the room, but that made her twice as good. She’s carried that work ethic into her other endeavors.

What’s next for Parton? Maybe law school. Why? “No good reason. I don’t want to practice but I’ve always wanted to go.”

To learn more or join Après Flight Club, visit flightmuseum.com/apres-flight.