Jody Geddes
Expressive Arts Educator & Mentor
You already have a story worth telling. I help you find the courage to claim it, the clarity to live by it, and build a life brave enough to use it.
Explore P.A.L → Or book a free call →
About Jody
Storyteller in song, study & stage.
I grew up laughing with the Muppets and singing to Karen Carpenter in blue velour pants. I come from a long line of storytellers — my Mom could make you laugh until your cheeks hurt, and my Dad was the King of the One-Liners. Around our table, swapping stories was the highest form of entertainment.
Somewhere along the line, we lost that. When I returned to the classroom after Covid, I could feel the silence where laughter used to be. Kids are scared and teachers are tired. Leaders are searching for a way to bring us back to each other. Stories can do that. Yours and ours.
I believe in the power of story — to illuminate, to heal, to connect, and to set people free to become who they are meant to be.
I believe in deep listening. I believe in meeting people where they are. I believe our experiences — even the hardest ones — are the raw material of our greatest becoming.
I believe in the power of community, creativity, and service. When one person steps into their story, everyone around them is given permission to do the same.
This is the work that chose me. I'm here to pass it on.
Jody Geddes is a professional performing artist and certified educator whose career has taken her across Canada and three continents. For thirty years, she held two things to be true at once: every person has a story worth telling, and the arts are the most honest way to tell it. Her classroom became the kind of place where students wrote original musicals during a pandemic, tackled physical theatre, and learned that creativity is a form of courage. Trained at Wilfrid Laurier University, D'Youville College, and the Harvard Graduate School of Education, she brings both rigour and genuine warmth to her practice. P.A.L (Purpose Aligned Living) grew from all of it: a framework built on expressive arts, deep listening, and the lived conviction that when people find their story, something in them comes back to life.
Of course she has a muppet photo.
What a P.A.L Session Looks Like
Every session starts with where you are.
Not where you think you should be.
For Individuals
You sit down not quite sure where to start. Maybe you've been carrying something for years — a sense that your life doesn't quite fit, that you've been performing a version of yourself that isn't the whole truth.
We start there. Not with goals or a plan. With a question, a prompt, sometimes a piece of music or an image. And then you surprise yourself.
For Teams
Your team is talented. But something's off — meetings feel transactional, energy is flat, and collaboration has quietly become coordination.
A P.A.L session gives your group a different kind of room. Not a workshop with a slide deck. A conversation with depth, where people remember why the work matters and who they're doing it with.
For Families
Change can make a family go quiet — a move, a loss, a diagnosis, a child leaving home. Everyone is coping, but nobody is really talking.
A P.A.L session creates a gentle, structured space to say what's been sitting in the room. You leave with something you didn't walk in with: a shared story.
Not Sure Where to Start?
Five honest questions. A personalised answer pointing you to exactly the right offering for where you are right now.
Takes about 2 minutes · No sign-up required
For Schools & Communities
If you're a school leader, a teacher, or working with young people — here's what working together looks like.
A dysregulated kid isn't a problem to solve — they're a person who hasn't found their footing yet. Through expressive arts and emotion coaching, I become the steady presence that helps them find it. Not a program. A person who shows up.
You're absorbing what your students can't carry alone — and nobody trained you for that. I give teachers practical, embodied tools to regulate themselves first, then hold space for the room. You can't pour from an empty cup, and you shouldn't have to.
You know something's missing. You've tried the programs — the guest speaker, the PD day, the wellness initiative. What your school needs isn't another package dropped in from outside. It's a sustained, relationship-based presence built around your people and your values.
Jody with students — Dance Learning Community
For Individuals
If you're in the middle of your own reinvention — navigating a transition, searching for purpose, or simply ready to step into who you actually are — P.A.L one-on-one mentorship is for you.
Explore P.A.L Mentorship →What People Say
From colleagues & collaborators
"Jody exhibits the purest spirit of a collaborative artist."
Sergio Calderon
Director & Collaborator
"Jody brings her love of literature and culture, and her enormous theatrical experience and professional connections to enrich the curriculum."
Dr. Kate Greenway
Academic & Educator
"Jody brings great artistry and integrity to her choreography."
Sean Stone
Designer & Creative Collaborator
The Inspiration
Steve & Shirley — with the six pack
Steve & Shirley Geddes Legacy Fund
My parents loved their six pack of grandkids with everything they had. They showed up fully, gave generously, and made space for everyone around the table. They were my original teachers — in storytelling, in laughter, in what it means to be truly present for the people you love.
In their honour, 10% of all P.A.L earnings goes to the Steve & Shirley Geddes Legacy Fund — an annual award presented to a graduating student at Collingwood Collegiate Institute who is pursuing their passion in health, athletics, or the performing arts.
When you work with me, you're not just investing in your own story. You're helping a young person in Collingwood begin theirs.
Past recipients have shared their thank-you notes, photos, and stories — a reminder of why this work matters.