Stella Parton on Film 'Nothing Is Impossible' and Staying Independent: 'I'm a Loner in My Family'

Stella Parton has made a career out of carving her own path.

Parton, 73, who stars in the new Pure Flix original film Nothing is Impossible, tells PEOPLE she found herself attracted to her "sweet little character" in the "sweet little film."

"I just took this role because it was not too far away from home and I won't have too many days on the set so this would be easy. And I like the character," Parton says of the movie, which centers around former high-end NBA prospect-turned school custodian Scott Beck (David A.R. White), who gets a second chance at realizing his dream when he tries out for the fictional Knoxville Silver Knights.

Parton plays Ruby, who works with the basketball team and shares her wisdom as Scott makes his way through the tryout process as an older-than-usual prospect.

"She was a salt-of-the-earth kind of woman and supportive and had her own little backstory and obviously was a dedicated employee at the company and cared about the people that she was working with and had a lot of wisdom," Parton says of the character.

"What I like about the film is it's about second chances. We all need second chances every week if we can get them," she says. "And it's about forgiveness, it's about resilience — it's about everything that I'm about."

Parton, whose sister is country icon Dolly, has released 39 albums, three cookbooks, acted onstage and on screen. She says, "There's lots of brilliant creative people, but they don't have good follow through." Plus, she always has "two or three projects on the cooker, in the slow-cooker."

"I have several projects simmering right now. I'm reworking my memoir, doing a revision on that, I'm working on a screenplay, and I'm really working on another batch of songs for another album," she says. "And then if a TV or a film project comes in and I can drop that a few weeks and go do it and come back and pick it right back up."

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The star, who has been carving a name of her own in the entertainment industry outside her famous family for decades, tells PEOPLE she has "always been a creative that was good with follow through."

"Everybody knows that I'm independent. I'm a loner in my family," Parton says. "But if they need me, if they call me out to help with something, producing, consulting or whatever, I'm always there."

"And they respect and honor that from me. But I've always been a steadfast, capable person," she added when asked about her family's thoughts on her wide-ranging career. "I certainly don't think of myself as above average in talent or intellect, but I am above average in productivity. I will work hard."

Today, Parton says "being introspective, being reflective" is what makes her happiest.

"I've tried to be good to everyone. You don't please everyone, but if your intentions were pure in heart, then you can have peace," Parton said. "That doesn't mean that the world is peaceful. You can feel bad about what's going on in the world, but you should have peace within yourself."

Parton explains that "by the time you get into your 70s," people should have "decided what you're going to hold yourself accountable for and then be guilty over it if you want to or forgive yourself and move on."

"That doesn't mean I won't make a mistake once I hang up the phone from you, but I'm not as hard on myself as I used to be," she adds. "I feel like the world has been hard enough on me — why should I do that too?"

Nothing Is Impossible premiered on PureFlix Oct. 6 and is available to stream now.