The Producer vs Consumer Test
Loving cupcakes doesn't make you a baker.
- Difficulty
- Starter
- Time to result
- ~days to results
- Steps
- 4
- Confidence
- 82%
Stahl separates two things people constantly conflate: being a consumer of something and being meant to produce it. She loves cupcakes and is a horrible baker; she loves fashion but isn't a designer; she loves politics but isn't meant to be a politician. The test is a single question applied to every interest on your list, and it strips out the majority of what career advice would have you pursue. It also protects hobbies from being conscripted into work they were never meant to do. It's the practical mechanism behind her 'don't do what you love, do what you are'.
Origin
Stahl realised at the Pentagon — training people to carry guns for deployment to Afghanistan and losing some of them to insider attacks — that she loved politics as a consumer and was far too sensitive to produce that work. The distinction crystallised as the concept that anchors every chapter of U-Turn.
Core principles
- 01Being a happy consumer of a thing says nothing about your fitness to produce it.
- 02Interest is a consumption signal; skill set is a production signal.
- 03Young brains default to converting consumption into career.
- 04Some hobbies and art are meant to stay hobbies and art, not become work.
- 05'Do what you love' collapses the two categories and misroutes people.
How to run it
- 1
Inventory your loves
Write out everything you're drawn to — the topics, industries, and activities that light you up.
- 2
Run the two-word test on each
For each item ask: am I a consumer of this, or a producer of it? Be blunt.
Pro tip Stahl's own list: happy consumer of cupcakes, massages, fashion, politics. Producer of none of them.
- 3
Protect the hobbies
Explicitly mark which loves are meant to stay art or hobby. Do not conscript them into work.
Watch out Stahl warns we turn our art and hobbies into work when they're not meant to be there.
- 4
Test survivors against your skill set
Whatever survives as a genuine production interest, check it against your leading core skill set before committing.
In the wild
Stahl planned a counterterrorism career from a genuine interest in government, history, and international threats — three majors, four languages, a King's College War Studies degree, a Pentagon job. She was a consumer of politics who built a production career on it.
→ She left the Pentagon and built a career-coaching and speechwriting business, keeping politics as an interest rather than an occupation.
Common mistakes
Following 'do what you love' literally
Stahl left her college career-services meeting more confused than ever after being handed three-worded tirades — do what you love, follow your bliss, the money will follow. The advice is a consumption prompt masquerading as a production plan.
Turning your art into your job by default
Sometimes we turn our hobbies into work when they're not meant to be there, which loses both the hobby and the career.
Is it for you?
Best for
Anyone about to turn a hobby, interest, or fandom into a career or business.
Not ideal for
Someone whose love genuinely is for the craft of production, where the test simply confirms the direction.
From the transcript
“There's such a big difference between being like a producer and a consumer of something.”
“I am a happy consumer of cupcakes, massages, fashion, politics. But that does not mean that I'm meant to be a producer of any of…”
“I love politics, but that doesn't mean I'm meant to be a politician. I love cupcakes, but I'm a horrible baker. I love fashion, but…”
From the episode
Ashley Stahl: The Road to Self-Discovery, Uncover Your Core Skills and Values for Career Success
Ashley Stahl