My mission as an intimacy professional is to assist in removing barriers to intimate work for actors and production team members on any given project. I want to make the work as accessible as possible, while embracing the uncomfortable to move into something beautiful. 

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Being people-first to me means that on the hierarchy of what needs to be taken care of in any space, at the very top are the humans in the room and their needs. To me, what’s most important is not the characters, the story, the timeline, or the production schedule, but the folks who are making it all happen. I honestly think that if someone is not in a healthy, sustainable space to do the work, then the work itself will not be high quality. 

I will not compromise an actor's need for a break in favor of a production schedule. I will not compromise someone needing to step back or drink water for a shot list or rehearsal timeline. While I know these things are important, what is more important to me is the care of the needs of the people who are doing the work. This does not mean schedules, timelines, and deadlines are lost on me; I still understand that, at the end of the day, the work needs to be done. However, I believe that only the best, most productive work can happen if everyone’s basic needs are met and the space is accessible to them. This kind of framework is centered on care, on taking each person as they are, and on doing my best to support their needs.

Accessibility is the lack of significant uncopeable barriers to an environment or method of learning. Accessible spaces (physical spaces and learning environments) are built with disabled folks in mind, allowing them to be used by as many bodies and minds as possible. As an intimacy coordinator, part of my job is to make the space and content as accessible as possible to folks with disabilities and neurodivergencies, while considering the best ways to support these performers and their needs. Still, some of this accessibility is a bit deeper than that. Everyone has access needs for any space; for some folks, these needs are met daily and without barriers; for others, this is not the case. I center the access needs of the folks I work with, support what they need to do to have those needs met, and take action when I can. 

Part of what I want to change in the theatre and film industry as a whole is the accessibility of the art itself and the process of making it. Some things that prevent folks from making or seeing art can be location, money, transportation, or the need to be at a job instead of a rehearsal. In my practice, I provide people with resources for mental health assistance, and at the end of my first rehearsal or first day on set, I also provide a resource sheet with places to get help if someone is experiencing homelessness, food insecurity, or transportation cost barriers. Assuming that someone who was able to enter the space that day did so easily or that they don't have access needs that must be met is incorrect. Additionally, I provide a discounted rate on intimacy work for student films and for small 501(c)(3) non-profit theatre organizations that make between $1 and $25,000 annually. (If you're curious about where I got that number from, I used the League of Chicago Theatres' “Annual Dues” tier system to guide this.) If you are curious, below are some of the resources I provide to the folks I work with. 

Chicago Mental Health Help (please call 911 in the event of an emergency): https://www.namichicago.org/

Chicago Food Pantries: https://www.chicagosfoodbank.org/find-food-2/

Chicago Homelessness Help: https://chicagohomeless.org/need-help/

CTA Reduced Fare info: https://www.transitchicago.com/reduced-fare-programs/

For Wintertime- Chicago Warming Centers: https://www.chicago.gov/content/dam/city/depts/fss/supp_info/ExtremeWeather/2016WarmingCenterEnglish030316.pdf

Balance brings a little bit of fun, a little work, a little effort, and a little effortlessness. Balance is important because too much of any one thing can be unhelpful or even harmful. At the end of the day, the work we are doing is telling a story using bodies in space. It’s storytime. It is never “that deep”. It is never so intense that we cannot take a break or that we cannot laugh in tense moments. In the same vein, it is never so lighthearted that the work does not hold weight and depth. Balance helps create a kind of stability and can act as a counterweight to a moment that might have “too much” of one thing. 

Amy Northup, in her chapter in The Intimacy Coordinator’s Guidebook, talks about how this work, while necessary and valuable, is not precious. Walking on eggshells or tiptoeing around difficult topics when it comes to intimacy work gives more power to the things that can control people. Too much preciousness can lead to coddling, trepidation, and even a sense of danger. I aim to treat spaces and people with care, consideration, and curiosity; I aim to meet them where they are.

Curiosity, to me, means asking questions and being okay with not having an answer. My kind of curiosity has zero expectations for an answer; it finds value in the questions themselves. I am innately curious, and this comes from 1) wanting to know more about my environment, but also 2) I love chewing on and mulling over the questions and curiosities themselves. I believe that questions have inherent value, and I especially find interest in big questions that cannot have answers (like “What does it mean to love someone?” or “What is it like to die?”). I am an intimacy professional who will keep asking you questions, even if I never get an answer, because the answer is not necessarily the point. Answers are not necessary for questions, curiosity, and wonder to contribute to the thoughtfulness and playfulness of a space. 

Curiosity shows up in my practice through how I approach problem-solving. Curiosity helps keep an open mind and find common ground in uncharted territory. The important things about curiosity and wonder are honesty, openness, and a willingness to learn, change, and grow. 

I am curious about how different bodies move together, and if intimacy can be defined as more than touch. I am curious about where this industry might go in the future and what changes could be made to improve the field. Having the answer to these questions is not important to me, but what is important is asking them and thinking about what might come from that.