About Us

HomeGrown Lifting was founded when Will Whitman and Zach Boden, former football teammates in college, had trouble finding quality bumper plates during the beginning of the COVID pandemic. Unable to go to the gym because of mass shutdowns, and frustrated with "out of stock" labels from major gym equipment providers, Will and Zach, along with their wives Nicole and Katy, decided to manufacture the plates that they had spent months searching for. 

The product was better than they could have imagined. With her background in sales, marketing, and photography, Nicole quickly built them a website and social media channels featuring the bumper plates. Week after week, the plates continued to sell out, and before three months had finished, our team knew this was not just a hobby- HomeGrown had taken off. 

Will has 6+ years background starting and running a rubber/urethane manufacturing company supplying major automotive, medical, and defense companies with high quality, tight tolerance, durable parts. Nicole graduated from Harvard College and has 9+ years of experience in sales, marketing and launching products in domestic and international products. Zach graduated from Duke University's Fuqua School of Business and has 6+ years of experience working in the Financial Services Industry. Their professional backgrounds, coupled with their personal interest in CrossFit and Powerlifting, culminated in the launch of HomeGrown Lifting Co.