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 Will's wife Nicole, 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.
Meet The Founders
Will Whitman
Co-Founder
Will has 6+ years experience starting and running a rubber/urethane manufacturing company supplying major automotive, medical, and defense companies with high quality, tight tolerance, and durable parts. He graduated in 2015 with a degree in Mechanical Engineering and secondary studies in Computer Science. He was an All-American offensive lineman as a Freshman. He now lives in him hometown of Lexington, KY with his wife, Nicole, and their two dogs. He looks forward to starting each morning with a CrossFit workout with his friends at CrossFit 859.
Zach Boden
Co-Founder
Zach has 6+ years working in the financial services industry. He is a former collegiate football and baseball player, and currently enjoys staying fit as an amateur powerlifter. Zach graduated from Duke University in 2017 and earned his Master's Degree at Duke's Fuqua School of Business in 2017. Zach currently lives in Charleston where he works as a nurse in the emergency department.
Nicole Whitman
Co-Founder
Nicole graduated from Harvard College, where she met both Will and Zach freshman year while working as a photographer for the football team. She has over 10 years of experience developing and executing digital marketing for both domestic and international markets, and over 5 years experience launching customer-facing products into the US market. Nicole was introduced to olympic weightlifting by her travel volleyball coach in high school, something she has continued to practice ever since. Will and Nicole got married in April 2020, but their first date was in 2013 when they met each other for a lift in the college gym.