Locke held a variety of jobs, including as a bookkeeper for Tyson Foods and secretary in a real-estate office. For a time she lived in the commuter town of Gallatin. In 1964, she joined the staff at radio station WSM-AM 650 in Nashville and was promoted to its television affiliate WSM-Channel 4 the following year. Locke's biggest coup while employed there was interviewing actor Robert Loggia when Loggia visited Nashville to promote his TV pilot "T.H.E. Cat", during which he "flirted outrageously" with Locke. Locke also modeled for "The Tennessean" fashion page, acted in commercials, and gained further stage experience in productions for Circle Players Inc. In 1966, the 22-year-old appeared in a UPI wire photo that showed her cavorting in new fallen snow. Within one year of this exposure, she decided to pursue a career in film and changed the spelling of her first name to avoid being called Sandy.