Outstanding Women of Valencia County:

Amelia Vogel

Published March 13, 2025 - 5:00 a.m. Modified March 13, 2025 - 12:27 p.m.

Amelia Vogel is the farm manager at Rocket Punch Farm in Belen, and a local food advocate for Farm to You by Bomvida.

She holds a bachelor of science degree in applied biology from Georgia Tech and a master of public health degree in biostatistics from Georgia Southern University.

Amelia and her husband, Jason Schilberg, live in Belen with their two cats, Sven and Stimpy. Her parents and sister, Natalie, live in Albuquerque.

She is a New Mexico Soil Health champion, which is part of the National Soil Health Champions Network.

If you could say one thing to your younger self or give them one piece of advice what would it be?

“Don’t listen to anyone who tells you anything other than ‘follow your passion.’ I wasted a lot of time doing what other people expected of me, trying to ‘fit in,’ and making myself miserable when I should have listened to my inner voice first.”

How do you define success in life?

“My success in life is convincing New Mexicans to eat more leafy greens. Put some Swiss chard in your enchiladas, some collards in your green chile stew. It’s delicious, I promise.”

What advice do you have for aspiring women looking to advance their careers?

“I walked away from the highest paying job of my career because of workplace sexual harassment. Yes, I reported it and, no, he did not face consequences. So, I don’t have any advice about career advancement, but I can tell you all about what it’s like to start over.”

How do you achieve work-life balance?

“(Since I have a 50 word limit per answer, I’m tempted to just write “ha!” 50 times.) I’m very fortunate that my business partner, my life partner and my favorite human are all wrapped up in the same package — my doting husband, Jason. We balance each other.”

What made you decide to pursue the career path you’re currently on?

“I started farming in order to grow the foods I’d only ever read about in cookbooks. I practice regenerative agriculture because I believe in working in collaboration with nature, not fighting against her. I focus on soil health because the soil ecosystem is what makes all life above ground possible.”