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.
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 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.
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.
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.
Welcome to The Affection Economy
A movement for those who believe business can be kind, leadership can be human, and change starts with us.
