How To Thrive In The New 'Passion Economy'

The economy is changing — and writer Adam Davidson says that means we need to change the way we think about work.

Davidson wants people to embrace what he calls the “passion economy.” In his book published Tuesday, "The Passion Economy: The New Rules for Thriving in the Twenty-First Century," the New Yorker writer explains how this economy creates opportunities for people to use unique skills and interests to create new kinds of businesses and find fulfilling careers.

“It's an economy that can feel very terrifying — that is ripping up a lot of the logic that undergirded this sort of industrial-scale economy of the 20th century and has caused a lot of disruption, a lot of fear, a lot of real pain,” he says, “but that this new economic system offers a lot of opportunities, too.”

A former NPR international business and economics reporter and co-founder of podcast Planet Money, Davidson spent years reporting on the painful side of economic transition. While he saw many people experience agony and confusion, he says he also realized some “regular people” were finding ways to thrive.

During the 20th century, the economy was built on mass manufacturing goods to sell around the world as cheap and fast as possible. That economy still exists, he says, but the internet created a new space unlike any that has existed before.

Online, people can find a niche base of customers that’s “uniquely theirs” instead of focusing on scaling their business, he says. This can mean selling crafts on Etsy, but also pursuing professions like engineering, he says.

This new economy allows people with specialties ranging from making chocolate to accounting are finding consumers around the world who want exactly what they provide, he says.

“In the book, I tell a lot of stories of sort of regular everyday folks who have cracked this nut,” he says. “And none of them are the kind of people who are ‘born on third base and think they hit a triple’ kind of folks who often make up a lot of business success stories.”

For example, he tells the story of Braun Brush Co. — a company founded in Brooklyn, New York, in 1875 that initially manufactured brushes for cleaning milk bottles. Before the industrial era, founder Emanuel Braun could only deliver his innovation to customers in Brooklyn and Queens.

Over time, his children expanded the company into a modern manufacturer that mass-produced different kinds of brushes to clean pizza ovens and spread chocolate on pastries. But like many businesses in the U.S., cheaper imports from China hurt Braun’s sales, he says. That’s until Braun’s great-grandson, Lance Cheney, brought the company back to its original idea of creating custom brushes for people with hyper-specific needs.

Now, the company sells NASA lightweight, reliable brushes used to clean debris off rocks so the Mars Rover can take clear photos of them, he says. Cheney also invented a new brush that makes it cheaper and safer to inspect the insides of nuclear power plants, he says.

“By focusing on the really specific needs of people who desperately need a new kind of brush or many of them don't even know they need a brush — they have a problem and he [Cheney] solves that problem — he's able to thrive in a way that nobody in his family ever did,” he says. “He stops making a brush the second a Chinese manufacturer starts making it and he moves on to something new.”

That’s a good ground rule for thriving in the passion economy — stay focused on what customers need and let others mass-produce old products, he says.

When it comes to pricing goods and services, Davidson recommends ignoring what everyone else is charging and asking customers to pay what it’s worth. Engage with customers to figure out how they value what you’re selling, he says.

“What I'm arguing is that if you find a passion and you hone that passion and you find an audience that also craves whatever it is you make, that you can find people who are going to be willing to pay money that makes it worth producing that good,” he says.

Though he thinks more Americans can join the passion economy, Davidson acknowledges that not everyone can be passionate about their work.

He’s mindful that people with a college education are more set up to thrive, he says. Even so, workers without degrees can start by picking a workplace that allows them a position that adds unique value to the business, he says.

And with the right changes, fast food companies can make workers excited about their jobs, he writes. Some companies like Sweet Green are catching on to the economic benefits of invigorating a passionate workforce, he says.

“This is not a book about geniuses who went to Harvard and used their dad's money to start a business,” he says. “These are regular folks — many of them grew up either poor or lower middle class or working class — who figured some things out.”