Before Carly Pearce became a Grammy-winning country music superstar and a member of the Grand Ole Opry, she was a 24 year old singer who had spent eight years in Nashville being told she wasn't enough. She'd done countless showcases, recorded endless songs, and watched labels pass her by again and again. Then she met Daniel Lee, a music publisher who saw something the entire industry had missed. In this deeply personal and unguarded conversation, the multi-platinum artist sits down with David Begnaud to share the story of the man who believed in her when she was cleaning Airbnbs and ready to move home.
Carly opens up about the moment Daniel sat her down at a coffee shop and said the words that changed everything: I know your story. I know how long you've been here. I know what the industry thinks. I believe otherwise. She talks about growing up in Taylor Mill, Kentucky, telling her parents at age five she was going to be on the Grand Ole Opry, dropping out of high school in ninth grade to work six shows a day at Dollywood, and spending years in Nashville chasing what everyone else wanted instead of trusting what made her different. She shares what it felt like to play five songs for a manager who told her to her face that they would never work, only to watch one of those exact songs, Every Little Thing, debut at number one on iTunes 12 hours after it hit Sirius XM's The Highway.
If you've ever wondered whether one person's belief could actually change the trajectory of your entire life, this episode will remind you that sometimes the greatest gift someone can give you is faith when the world says no. And sometimes, that's all you need to become unstoppable.
Get more stories that remind you the world is still good. Sign up for our free newsletter:https://www.thedogoodcrew.com
Chapters ☀️
Chapters
00:00:00 Intro: The Publisher Who Believed When Nobody Else Did
00:02:13 The 12-Hour Period That Changed Everything: Every Little Thing
00:06:36 I Believe Otherwise: The Coffee Shop Meeting That Saved Her Career
00:10:20 Stop Chasing Other People: Finding Her True Voice
00:12:18 These Songs Will Never Work: The Manager Who Said No
00:07:57 Meeting Busby: The Producer Who Understood the Purist in Her
00:18:50 The Kentucky Girl's Dream: From Age Five to the Grand Ole Opry
00:37:36 Cleaning Airbnbs While Her Song Played on the Radio
00:26:43 Eight Months of Marriage: The Mistake She Knew on Her Wedding Night
00:25:06 Never Wanted to Be That Girl: The Grammy-Winning Collaboration
00:39:48 Recurrent Pericarditis: When Doctors Dismissed Her Heart Condition
00:41:38 The Sacrifices: How Mom and Dad Held It Down
00:22:57 Dolly's Surprise: Becoming a Member of the Grand Ole Opry
00:50:10 I Don't Feel Like I've Achieved What I Deserve Yet
00:54:14 Daniel's Lifeline: You Continue to Make Me Believe I Matter
ABOUT THIS PODCAST:
The Person Who Believed In Me is hosted by David Begnaud, founder and CEO of Do Good Crew and often called "America's storyteller." In each episode, David sits down with world-class guests to ask one simple question: Who believed in you before the world did? Big names. Honest stories. Relatable takeaways. Different paths — same question.
David is also a CBS News contributor and host of the weekly segment Beg Knows America, which airs every Monday morning.
Host: David Begnaud
Guest: Carly Pearce
Executive Producer: Olivier Delfosse
Associate Producer: Jonah Johnson
Booker: Sully Bloch
Director of Photography: Foster Parks
Director of Social: Mariah Maull
Live Production Technician: Joseph Gabay & Will Whitley (Statik Creative)
Theme Music: Slipstream
Post-Production: Longwave Digital
CONNECT WITH US:
The Person Who Believed In Me:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/believedpodcast
