Today we’d like to introduce you to Christa Ellis.
Hi Christa, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My path into experiential marketing wasn’t a straight line, and that’s probably the most honest way to start.
I spent years in corporate learning and development at Sprint, building virtual experiences for teams around the country. That’s where I first got hands-on with photo booth technology, not as an event add-on, but as a tool for connection. I didn’t know it at the time, but I was building the foundation for what would eventually become Lumen.
The real turning point came when a house purchase I was counting on fell through. I needed additional income, and fast. I already had a small photo booth business on the side, so I leaned into it, hard. What started as a way to fill a financial gap became something bigger once I saw how people actually responded. A single photo can put you right back in a moment, the feeling, the people, the room. That idea became the whole premise of the business.
From there, I rebuilt the company from the ground up. In 2024, I completed a full rebrand and split the work into two distinct brands: Lumen Events Kansas City, focused on weddings and social celebrations, and Lumen Activations, built specifically for corporate and brand experiential marketing. Two very different audiences, two very different needs, and I wanted both to get a partner who understood their world instead of a generic vendor trying to serve everyone.
Today, Lumen Activations works with corporate and brand teams across Kansas City, bringing 20-plus years of B2B sales experience and two master’s degrees in Organizational Leadership and Strategic Communications into how we build activations that actually perform, not just photograph well. We’re a woman-owned, minority-owned business with an all-women team, and I’m also a single mom raising a 15-year-old who keeps me on my toes. That combination, corporate strategy paired with the belief that experiences are worth building intentionally, is what drives everything we do.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
No, and I wouldn’t want it to sound like it was.
The early days were the hardest. I was building a business while working full-time in corporate learning and development, which meant late nights and weekends became my actual operating hours. There was no version of this where I got to slow down and figure it out at a comfortable pace. I had a financial gap to close, so the business had to work, and it had to work fast.
The bigger challenge came later, once the demand was there but the brand wasn’t ready for it. I was running what had been a smaller photo booth business and trying to position it for a much more competitive, higher-end market, corporate clients and luxury weddings who expect precision, not improvisation. That meant a full rebrand in 2024, rebuilding the website, the visual identity, the language we used to talk about the work, and splitting into two distinct brands so each audience got something built specifically for them instead of a one-size-fits-all pitch.
Doing that as a single mom added its own layer. My son is fifteen and heavily involved in sports, so my time has always been the scarcest resource in this business. I had to get disciplined fast about what actually moved the needle and what was just busywork dressed up as productivity. I leaned on programs like the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses initiative to sharpen that thinking, because I didn’t have the luxury of learning everything the slow way.
The honest answer is that the road tested whether I actually believed in what I was building. I did, so I kept going.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Lumen Activations creates experiential marketing activations for corporate brands, trade shows, conferences, and galas across Kansas City and beyond. We turn passive audiences into active participants and brand moments into something people remember long after the event ends.
We specialize in photo and AI-driven activations built specifically for corporate objectives, not just photo ops. Every activation is designed to connect back to something the client actually cares about: engagement, brand recall, audience reach, sponsor value. We’ve built activations for teams at H&R Block, Enterprise Mobility, Sporting KC, Compass Minerals, and UMKC, among others, and that track record shapes how we approach every new partnership. We show up prepared, on-brand, and self-directed, because marketing directors don’t have the bandwidth to manage a vendor who needs hand-holding on-site.
What sets us apart is the combination of creative execution and strategic thinking. I bring 20-plus years of B2B sales experience and two master’s degrees, in Organizational Leadership and Strategic Communications, into how we build and pitch every activation. We’re not just building something that looks good in a proposal. We’re building something that performs in the room and extends past it, into the recap emails, the social posts, the conversations people have the next morning.
We’re also a woman-owned, minority-owned business with an all-women team, which is something I’m genuinely proud of. It shapes how we operate: with intention, with care for the people we work with, and without cutting corners to compete on price. We’re premium, not budget, and we’re upfront about that. If a client needs the lowest-cost option on the vendor list, we’re probably not the right fit. If they need an activation that actually delivers, that’s exactly where we live.
What I want readers to know most is this: an activation isn’t equipment you rent for a few hours. It’s a strategic layer that makes a brand touchable and memorable, built by a team that understands both the creative side and the ROI side of experiential marketing.
What do you like and dislike about the city?
What I like best about Kansas City is how much the business community actually roots for each other. I’ve built both of my brands here, and the referral relationships, the collaborations, the willingness of other local business owners to make introductions instead of guarding their networks, that’s not something you find everywhere. It’s a city where showing up and doing good work actually gets noticed and passed along.
I also love how much is happening here. Between the corporate event scene, the wedding and social calendar, and everything in between, there’s no shortage of moments worth building an experience around. Kansas City takes its celebrations seriously, and that energy is part of why this business works here.
What I like least is that Kansas City doesn’t always get credit outside the region for the caliber of talent and creativity here. We compete with businesses in bigger markets and hold our own, but there’s still a perception gap nationally about what’s actually being built in this city. I’d love to see that change.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://lumenactivations.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lumenactivations/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lumenactivations.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/lumen-activations/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Lumen-Activations
- Other: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christaeellis/
