Flintern Spotlight: Lucy Halverson
By Lydia Picotte, Creative Writing Intern – Flint Group
As it turns out, telling your family of farmers that you’re getting into photography is a sure–fire way to get put to work. Scrolling through Lucy Halverson’s portfolio, I’m immediately pulled to her cinematic couples’ shoots and dreamy green senior portraits. But a deeper dive brings viewers to another tab; this one is dedicated entirely to the summer she spent traveling around the country, taking promotional photos of her family’s potato fields. For Flint’s PR and social media intern, “potato photoshoot” is just one of many career moments created at an intersection of personal interests. And while the photos may not look as glamourous, the experience was just as memorable as many of her more typical shoots – though she’ll admit not necessarily for the same reasons.
“You can only pose a potato in so many ways,” she shrugs, with the assuredness of someone with experience doing just that.
“I always liked pictures growing up,” she recalls. “My family makes photo albums, and I just liked to look at them. I wouldn’t play with toys; I’d look at photo albums. Then, in high school when COVID started, I took my dad’s old camera and started taking pictures of my friends and sisters. It just grew from there.”
“It grew” into what is now a full-fledged business: Halverson’s summer schedule is entirely booked with photo sessions.
Her fall season is just as busy. In August, the Grand Forks native will start her senior soccer season at Concordia College. Off the field, she’s a marketing major who also holds social media positions in the school’s student government and marketing club.
All these experiences have given Halverson a visible sense of organization and discipline as she’s pieced together what her future might look like. Raised by her family business, Halverson has always known she had a career waiting for her in agriculture. The question has only been what exactly. Now, her long list of activities, and some pointed influence, have combined to help her find her path.
“My aunt had a big impact on my decision to go into marketing because she used to work at an agency,” she explains. “Once I started marketing at school, she told me I should intern at Flint.”
Despite her extensive experience in social media, she says that her position at Flint has opened new doors.
“I think PR is a lot more behind the scenes work than I realized,” Halverson reflects. “It’s about finding the right people to talk to, which I think is cool, but also tricky. I think [this position] has changed the way I see the future. Now I know there’s a lot more avenues within marketing to go down.”
It’s also given a more professional structure to her work.
“When I worked in [agriculture marketing] in the past, it’s just been for my family, so I had my own freedom a little bit – except when my dad is being the hardest boss ever,” she jokes. “But here, I’m seeing the different approach to it where you have more specific guidelines about what the client actually wants.”
Speaking with Halverson, it’s obvious that she deeply values her relationships, so it’s not a surprise that her family ties have manifested in her career. Even as she talks about herself, her stories come back to the impact of others: the reasons her cousin is the best travel partner; the nostalgic friendships that encourage her creativity; the love she has for an old nanny who first taught her about photography.
Flint took notice right away.
“They told me when they hired me,” Halverson says, “We think you belong somewhere client focused.”
It’s easy to see why.
For Halverson, human connection is everything, and that feeling is reflected in her work.
“More than taking pictures, I like telling the story of farms,” she explains. “And [with photography], I like capturing people in real moments, not just poses. I like to say that I capture the emotion of people.”
