The Story Maker
Insights from the Affection Economy:
where values are lived, not told.
Values-led leadership, cultural change, and human connection.
Welcome to The Story Maker — Jet Swain’s blog exploring how we live, lead, and belong through the lens of The Affection Economy.
Here you’ll find reflections, case studies, and practical strategies for leaders, teams, and communities ready to build trust, lead with kindness, and create meaningful change.
365 Acts of Affection: A Practice, Not a Performance
365 Acts of Affection is a daily practice — one small act each day — designed to be lived rather than performed. Grounded in the Affection Economy, these acts translate values into behaviour through presence, care, and attention. Not a challenge or a checklist, but a rhythm to return to. One moment. One act. One day at a time.
Quiet Quitting or Conscious Recalibration?
A reflection on the growing conversation around women “quietly quitting” their marriages — not as resignation, but as recalibration. Through the lens of The Affection Economy, this piece explores midlife agency, emotional labour and the quiet courage of choosing yourself.
The Little Right-Hand Turns That Lead Us Back to Ourselves
A return to therapy this week led me back to a simple truth: every small decision nudges us closer to, or further from, our values. When my therapist handed me a novel — one I never would’ve chosen myself — it opened a deeper reflection on bias, trust, lineage, and the women whose names history forgot. This piece is about those tiny right-hand turns that guide us home.
Introducing the Six Themes of ‘The Affection Economy’
What began as 30 values has evolved into 36 — grouped into six interconnected themes that mirror the rhythm of human experience. The Affection Economy is a circular framework for living, leading, and belonging with integrity, care, and courage at the centre. Each theme opens with a Sanskrit word — a breath-sized reminder that wisdom isn’t new; it’s remembered.
The Rise of the Community Leader (and the Fall of the Influencer)
The influencer model is fading. The future belongs to community leaders — those who build circles, not audiences. Here’s how the Group 7 TikTok trend proves it.
What the Network Forgot
Zoe Scaman mapped the new world order — power through infrastructure and code.
This is the companion map: one that remembers the soul beneath the system, and the quiet architecture of affection that could hold it all together.
The Affection Advantage: Why This Work Is Told in Five Acts
Affection isn’t a process; it’s a rhythm. The Affection Advantage unfolds across five Acts — Clarity, Care, Courage, Consistency, and Contribution — each mirroring the natural rhythm of transformation. This isn’t a framework to follow but a way of living and leading with heart, turning values into systems and systems back into story.
Empathy Sustains. Affection Regenerates.
Empathy sustains us through understanding, but affection takes us further. It’s the regenerative force that rebuilds trust, community, and care after empathy has done its listening. This piece explores the evolution from empathy to affection as a new way of leading, healing, and creating systems that renew rather than exhaust.
The Bureau of Overlooked Virtues
There’s a story about a man on a bicycle who notices the small, invisible virtues that hold us together — the kind of everyday affection that changes how we see one another. What if we all joined his Bureau?
The Affection Economy: Toward a Co-Design of What Comes Next
Something’s shifting.
In just a few months, The Indian Express and Psychology Today have both written about what I call The Affection Economy — a movement I’ve been shaping for years.
Their words signal that affection, belonging, and care are no longer soft ideas. They’re becoming the strategy for a new kind of prosperity — one built on trust, reciprocity, and growth without compromise.
This piece explores how we can co-design what comes next.
Why Women’s Stories Matter
Every family has its Margaret — women who hold the map quietly, without recognition. Their stories show us that true leadership is not always loud, but lived through care, endurance, and connection. This is why women’s stories matter, for the maps they leave behind, the ones that still guide us home.
Affection Isn’t Soft: Defending the Innocent Without Harm
Affection isn’t soft — it’s grit with grace.
Like the Noble Eightfold Path, it’s a compass for action: guiding us to defend humanity with courage, clarity, and compassion.
Affection Is a Cultural Shift, Not Just a Movement
Affection isn’t just a movement, it’s a cultural shift. As our old stories of growth unravel, affection offers a new way to measure meaning, connection, and belonging.
When Everything Aligns: Finding My Way Back Through Values
Three very different platforms — a national magazine, a podcast, a live stage — found me telling the same story. In each moment, I returned to a single truth: when we align with our deepest values, everything else begins to fall into place. This is what The Affection Economy looks like when it’s lived, not just written about.
Why I Chose Sanskrit to Anchor the 30 Values in The Affection Economy
Each value in The Affection Economy begins with a Sanskrit word — chosen not for effect, but to bring us home to what matters. Here’s why.
We Can’t Live Company Values If We Don’t Know Our Own
We can’t live company values if we don’t know our own. This post explores why alignment must begin with the individual — not the poster on the wall.
What If Business Had a Beating Heart?
What if business had a beating heart?
Jet Swain’s upcoming book The Affection Economy explores values-led leadership, conscious growth, and how affection can shift the way we live, lead, and belong — without compromising people, profit, or planet.
Courage Is a Compass
Courage doesn’t always roar. In this story, Jet Swain explores how small acts of bravery guide us toward a values-led life — even when no one’s watching.
Micro-Moments That Build Trust and Meaning
Trust isn’t built in grand gestures — it’s shaped in the micro-moments. These quiet glimmers of presence, care, and consistency are what truly define values-led leadership.
What We Really Mean by Affection
Affection isn’t romantic or weak — it’s a leadership choice. In this post, Jet Swain unpacks why affection is the bold foundation of a values-first future.
