Hello and welcome to USA Today's The Excert. I'm Zuleka Nathu, special projects host and producer.

This is a bonus episode of The Exert.

Today is Sunday, March 29th, 2026.

USA Today's Women of the Year recognizes women who are making a significant difference in their communities and across our country.

They are powerhouses, rock stars, and total bosses.

On today's special episode, we're bringing you inspiration and determination from some of our

26 honorees. We hope you find their stories as empowering as we do. Let's kick things off with

country music sensation, Lainey Wilson. Wilson's calling came early, long before the spotlight founder.

I wrote my first song at nine years old and picked up a guitar at 11.

There was this just like burning fire inside of me and this faith that I was given a gift and I was supposed to share it.

I didn't know exactly what it was going to look share it. I didn't know exactly what it was

going to look like and I didn't know how long it was going to take me, but I knew that Nashville

is where I needed to be. And if that meant I had to live in a camper trailer for three years,

then dang it I was going to do it. And she did live in a camper van trying to make ends meet

as a struggling musician.

Years of determination slowly turned a dream into a breakthrough.

Along the way women she admired helped shape the artist she would become.

My mama, my grandmothers, my sister, they are all women who work hard and roll up their sleeves. They don't take no for an answer.

And professionally, you know, I've always looked to Dolly Parton.

I've always thought the way that she carries herself when she walks into a room,

how she tells you like it is with a little bow wrapped on top.

As Wilson's career grew, the Grammy and ACM award-winning artist stepped into an entirely new spotlight.

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