She was just a teenager when she decided to pack up and move from East Tennessee to Music City Nashville where she was determined to become a famous singer.

Her parents warned her she would starve, but Dolly Parton said, “I’m starving here. What’s the difference?”

With little to no money, Dolly revealed in her new book, Dream More: Celebrate the Dreamer in You, that she roamed hotel hallways after dinnertime, hoping to find room service leftovers. And she was successful.

“Some people left a lot of good stuff,” said Dolly. “They’d leave half a hamburger, or they’d leave bananas or whatever else. If you’re hungry, you do what you’ve got to do.”

Doing what she had to do to survive, Dolly even helped out at restaurants on occasion in exchange for food.

“I used to go to Couser’s restaurant on Nolensville Road, and say, ‘I’ll clean these tables and keep the mustard and ketchup done up if you’ll feed me a hot meal,’” revealed Dolly. “I got to be friends with those people, and then I’d bring my guitar and entertain them in between meal times.”

She may have been young and broke, but she survived. In her new book, Dream More: Celebrate the Dreamer in You, Dolly takes you on her road to fame.

“It’s not a book about how to be successful,” advises Dolly. “It’s just an insight into how I’ve lived my life and how I conduct my work.”

-Ashley Quadros, CBS Local