I coach intimate scenes for TV shows like 'Sex Education.' Here's how I made the career switch from being an executive assistant.

• Jenefer Odell was laid off from her executive assistant job at the start of the pandemic.
• She completed an LA course normally done in person to qualify as a film and TV intimacy coordinator.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Jenefer Odell, 37, from Margate, England, about becoming an intimacy coordinator. It has been edited for length and clarity.

Before I was an intimacy coordinator, I was an executive assistant for the clothing brand Long Tall Sally. Every morning I was on the 5:30 a.m. train to London, checking emails, organizing meetings.

It was relentless and I never really was able to switch off. As the mother of two small children, it was a long time to be doing that.

When I was made redundant just before the first lockdown two years ago, it was terrifying but it created the space for me to eventually land my dream job.

For many years I'd been doing something I was really good at, but it didn't inspire or fulfill me. When I heard about intimacy coordinators, I thought, "That's me."

Intimacy coordinators choreograph intimate scenes that can include sex and nudity but also childbirth and death

We ensure the actors are listened to and are comfortable while trying to realize the director's vision. The role has gained prominence since the #MeToo movement.

I have some friends who are actors and way back I recall thinking, "You probably should have someone who helps you choreograph and coordinate that scene" when they were onstage.

I had always been interested in sex as a way to tell stories and once worked at erotic retail shop, Coco Der Mer. I have a dance and theater arts degree which also lends itself to the role.

I also remember reading an article about Alicia Rodis — who I have since met — and thought I'd love to do what she does. But I didn't have a clue how to train to do it.

I found several UK-based courses but there were no places. I spread the net wider and found a course in Los Angeles run by industry leaders, the IPA. The trainer of that course was previously doing face-to-face training with a small group of people, but because of lockdown, she decided to open it up to global candidates.

The process began with an application form. Course founder Amanda Blumenthal then held Zoom interviews to choose her cohort of 22 students in two groups.

I think she chose students based on a variety of qualities — communication skills, empathy and self-awareness, previous experience on film sets, and other relevant experiences.

Students came with different work experiences, such as therapists, sex coaches, activists, and members of the kink community. I was the only Brit.

The four-month course was Zoom classes, reading books, and watching films and shows for homework. I qualified and received my accreditation, which is only required for work in the US, but it gave me the edge over others in the UK.

I completed the course in September 2020, and started my first job working on series three of "Sex Education" the following month. I have been working ever since.

My other work includes "The Essex Serpent" with Claire Danes and "The Fear Index" starring Josh Hartnett. I was last commissioned to work on BBC drama, "The Reckoning," which stars Steve Coogan as serial sex offender Jimmy Savile.

I wondered whether to take it on, but it has been done very sensitively and with support and collaboration with the victims — that was very important to me. There were five people who were interviewed, and I got the job.

It was very intense with very long hours. A typical day there would be to arrive early before visiting all the actors privately in their trailers to see how they were feeling and if there's anything that I needed to be aware of.

Conversations would then take place on set before I went off privately to work on the choreography. Before the scene was shot, I would move the crew away, leaving myself and the actors. We would carefully discuss boundaries and then start rehearsing.

Minimal crews are then brought back to film and I would remain there making sure everyone was OK. I was involved early on with "The Reckoning" with lots of preparation, and there was also a psychologist who I worked with closely.

But every job is different. Quite often I will be called in at the last minute, which is not ideal, but it's better I'm there rather than not at all.

I think working as an EA provided me with some important skills

I had experience in negotiating difficult conversations and managing egos while being decisive and proactive. It can be similar on film sets. But the difference is I am now my own boss.

I'm protecting other people but I'm in charge, and that gives me a huge amount of satisfaction.

It's a powerful feeling to take control of my life, and to be doing something that feels right for me. It's incredible when I know that I've protected an actor and been able to interrupt an unequal power dynamic — to be able to say, "No, they're not willing to do that," without them having to be involved. You've taken all that stress away.

It's also a problem-solving exercise, because I want directors to tell stories that they're happy with. Sometimes it's about finding another way to tell a story, or another shot that's going to excite them and give them what they need without feeling that they've been compromised.

I could not imagine doing anything else.