For a long time, people have parrotted the slogan, “Do what you love, the money will follow.” But I’m afraid that advice has set too many people on a path of disappointment, frustration, and lower financial compensation.

The only way the money will follow doing what you love is if you seriously focus on making money while doing something you love. Woodworking is a classic example.

How many woodworkers start because they like making stuff? I daresay most of them. Then they sell a few items and try to make a business out of it. But they are still focused on making the product, not building a business. 

Too often woodworkers fail because they don’t face up to those realities. Business is a craft in and of itself that requires the same attention to detail that woodworking requires. And just as a piece of furniture will fail if the joinery has not been properly executed, a woodworking business will fail if you don’t pay attention to sales, marketing, profits, and costs.

Mike Rowe, a tireless supporter of the trades and star of the Dirty Jobs shows, has a different take. He admonishes young people to learn to love what you do. He says trying to follow your passion rarely works out.

Instead, he suggests trying to learn skills actually in demand. “And then [do] what you can to love it. In the end, you still want to wind up passionate about whatever you’re doing,” he says. “It’s just a question of the chronology you choose to get there.”

I see what Rowe is saying as skills and market demand should come first, then organic growth of your passion for what you do. In a sense, it’s the opposite of “Do what you love, and the money will follow.” It’s kind of “Go where the money is, and the love will grow.”

Clearly, there is a huge market for skilled workers in woodworking and manufacturing, despite what the media or public educators might say. I have never heard of a successful woodworking business that wasn’t on the lookout for good people. My advice to young people who are at all attracted to woodworking is to develop the skills by working in successful businesses. Learn both woodworking and business while you earn a decent living in the field. Along the way, you’ll likely develop a passion for both the craft of woodworking and the craft of building a business.
 
That’s a surer path to a solid financial future than taking out huge loans for degrees that don’t really promise a career path. Oh, and by the way, the original “do what you love” quote is attributed to Marsha Sinetar, a public educator with a Ph.D. who became a lecturer, corporate advisor, and author. Then she abandoned most of that for a more “spiritual,” low-key, rural lifestyle. Did money follow her passion or did her passion follow the money? You decide.