AUTHOR · LIFE COACH · SPEAKER
Joe Swinger
I carried a pen in my pocket for 45 years before I became who I was always meant to be.
Author of five books. Creator of The Life Shelf™ Framework. Host of Chapter One: The Podcast. Helping people in the second half of life write their next volume.
WHERE TO BEGIN
Three ways to start your journey with Joe
01
Chapter One Life Coaching
The Volume Shift™ — my 12-week coaching program for people ready to stop waiting and start writing their next volume. Built on the Life Shelf™ Framework I lived before I taught it.
02
Five Books. One Story.
From leadership to personal development to children’s books — every book I’ve written came from living the framework I now teach. The first one published at 52. The pen never left my pocket.
03
Chapter One: The Podcast
Real people. Real Volume Shifts.
Every guest is living proof that the best volume may still be ahead.
THE PEN IN MY POCKET
I didn’t find my calling. I carried it for 45 years.
New York Book Expo, 2018. 37 years after I put the first pen in my pocket.
In 1981, I made a decision. I was going nowhere — partying, drifting, searching. But something shifted inside me and I committed to becoming an author. I bought a pen, put it in my pocket, and made it a symbol of who I was going to become.
I carried that pen through homelessness. Through a gas station job. Through a BA, an MA, and an MBA — each one I hoped would finally give me the self-worth I was searching for. None of them did.
I carried it through a marriage, through ten years of trying to have children, and through the birth of twin boys at 43. Through a retail career where I was passed over for every promotion because I hadn’t yet learned to lead with empathy. Through losing my home in 2013.
And then, at 51, something finally broke open. I realized the answer had never been out there — in another degree, another title, another achievement. It was always within. That was my Volume Shift. I published my first book at 52. Four more followed. And today, I help other people in the second half of life make their own shift — from waiting, to writing.
THE LIFE SHELF™ FRAMEWORK
Which volume are you in right now?
Every volume shaped you — but none of them are the end. Most of my clients are here:
ON THE STAGE
Bring the Volume Shift to your audience.
Keynotes, workshops, and fireside conversations for leadership teams, conferences, and organizations ready to help their people step into their next volume.
“Your life isn’t one story. It’s a shelf of volumes. And your best one may still be ahead.”
— Joe Swinger
STAY IN TOUCH
Let’s keep writing.
For coaching inquiries, speaking requests, or to suggest a podcast guest — I’d love to hear from you.
