THE WOMAN BEHIND LUNA LIGHT MEDIA

Katherine Rasmussen Polovina here. I have a decade of experience building brands for non-profits and small businesses, as well as preserving memories for families and individuals.

I take a hands on approach to implementing marketing strategies, whether it's a plan my clients have shared with me or one we've developed together. That means taking photos with my Nikon, writing content and creating eye-catching designs for digital and print communications.

I've worked on some really exciting projects - from a 500-page layout for a diabetes education curriculum to cookbook photography to holiday campaigns for grocery stores.

If it's a photographer you need for an event or family portrait photos - I do that too! I work on location, so let's take those family pics at your favorite venue or in the comfort of your own home.  

WHY THE NAME LUNA LIGHT MEDIA

Elena Luna is the name of my paternal grandmother. An immigrant from Mexico, she brought with her a bank of amazing stories. She told of flamenco dancing, surviving an earth quake and train wreck as well as losing both her parents at a young age. After her father - a pearl merchant - was murdered during a robbery, Elena left Mexico City to live with her brother in Guaymas. There she met an American, the man she would marry and follow to Arizona, California and finally Chicago.

Deciding to put down roots in the city of big shoulders, Elena set out from her South Shore home during a blizzard to apply for a job at Mall Tools. The manager told her "anyone who walks out in weather like this deserves a job!" He not only hired her on the spot, he gave her a wage equal to that of her male coworkers (in 1949).

When I began "moonlighting" as a freelancer, I wanted to pay homage to this amazing woman - because her memory inspires adventure, storytelling, listening and justice. And it didn't hurt that her last name just happens to mean moon!

WHY I DO WHAT I DO

Right after high school I took a summer job at Monsanto to supplement the income I earned as a waitress. There I worked in a garage, counting mutated seedlings on test trays. From my perch in the garage I could see through a window that looked in on a group of my coworkers, dressed in hazmat suits and handling bright green and blue seeds. It disturbed me that hazmat suits were required to work with food and I was perplexed by the unnatural color of the seeds. It was equally disturbing that a number of coworkers were suffering from cancer and that I had developed a chronic respiratory infection since I started the job. I quit after three months and moved to Humboldt County in California for college.

The beauty of the Pacific Northwest instilled in me a strong appreciation for nature, wildlife and conservation. While at Humboldt State University I earned a degree in Social Anthropology and traveled to Peru, China and Spain. These experiences solidified my passion for exploring unfamiliar places and meeting people who had stories to tell.

After college I moved to New York and worked as a public relations and marketing professional at a nonprofit that reduces the impact of poor nutrition on public health by organizing community gardens, providing healthy food access, offering nutritional and horticultural education and coordinating urban greening programs. It was there that I truly began to understand the impact that our food system has on the environment and human health.

Since then, I have returned home to my native city of Chicago and dedicated my career to working with clients that promote clean eating, responsible farming, environmental conservation, public health, human rights and positive community relationships.