068: Zephrine Hanson On Farming and Managing Your Mental Health at Midlife

On this episode of Gen X Amplified, I have a great and important conversation with Zephrine Hanson.

Zephrine is a veteran, farmer, story amplifier, and the founder of Hampden Farms, a suburban farming project that offers small-batch artisanal products made from organic ingredients that are lovingly grown and sustainably sourced.

And she also happens to be a fellow member of LinkedIn's inaugural cohort of its Creator Accelerator Program!

During this episode, Zephrine and I discuss her personal story — which includes a beginning career in the military, how she got into lavender farming, and her insights and advice on managing one's mental health.

Particularly as a 40-plus professional, business owner, parent, and community builder.

Born and raised in San Fernando Valley California, Zephrine enlisted in the Air Force immediately after graduating high school.

With a background in media communications and journalism, she served as a public affairs and medical photographer stationed in Germany and Texas.

After medical retirement from the Air Force in 2004, Zephrine shifted to freelance photography, returned to college for communications. With the resounding support of her partner, the Hansons packed up and moved to Denver, CO in 2016 where she embraced a calmer, holistic lifestyle.

Finally enjoying some space to breathe, Zephrine took advantage of veteran programs including The Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans with Disabilities (EBV) consortium at UCLA, the Veterans to Farmers program in partnership with Denver Botanic Gardens (DBG), and the Veterans' Path mindfulness and yoga training in Colorado.

In 2017 she began planting seeds and nurturing people through Hampden Farms, a suburban farming project offering sustainable farming solutions and small-batch artisanal products made from organic ingredients lovingly grown and conscientiously sourced.

Through Hampden Farms, Zephrine continued collaborations with the DBG to include earning her 300-hour Herbalism Certification. She now serves as a Self-Care Share Producer and Farmer for Chatfield along with being an instructor and ambassador for the Garden's Veterans-to-Farmers program.

Zephrine is a proud member of the Denver Metro Area's chapter of MileHigh Farmers, the grassroots organization for farmers and farmer advocates. She is also lends her experience and voice to the Food Policy Cohort for LiveWell focused on overcoming inequitable access to healthy food and physical activity in Colorado.

To better marry her passion for sustainable farming with drive for entrepreneurship and enterprise, Zephrine is actively pursuing Bunker Lab's Veteran-in-Residence program.

She continues to advocate and be a community influencer for Autism awareness and education joining the TACT (Teaching the Autism Community Trades) board in February, 2020.

When Zephrine is not changing the world one plant and person at a time, she enjoys epic LEGO builds with her three tween inventors and going down Google rabbit holes with her favorite tech nerd and beloved partner, Justin.

• "Control" by Janet Jackson

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