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We’re proud to share a deeply personal story from one of our own, Tim Card. Tim is a Wodify team member, fitness coach, husband, father, and cancer survivor. His journey is more than inspiring; it’s a powerful reflection of the values that unite our team. At Wodify, fitness isn’t just the industry we serve, it’s a shared belief that a better world can be built through people’s health and wellness, and that belief shapes how we think, work, and connect.
Many of us have stood on the gym floor as athletes, coaches, or owners, and that lived experience gives us more than insight, it gives us empathy. It fuels our commitment to building tools that truly serve fitness professionals and their clients, because we understand the grit behind every rep, the care behind every program, and what this work is ultimately in pursuit of.
Tim’s story is one of survival, but we know not every fight ends the same way. What unites all who take on life-altering health challenges is the courage to show up, endure, and keep moving forward. His journey reminds us that what we’ve built at Wodify is more than software; it's a team dedicated to helping build resilient businesses that create a healthier world.
We talk a lot about functional fitness as preparation for life but I never imagined just how literal that would become for me.
I spent over a decade coaching, training, and building a community at CrossFit Lancaster. I believed in intensity, accountability, and showing up for the hard stuff. But in 2017, life handed me the ultimate “unknown and unknowable” WOD: cancer.
I was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. One day I was leading classes and hitting PRs; the next, I was in the ER and shortly after that, navigating chemo infusions and treatment schedules.
But the silver lining (if there is one here) was I wasn’t starting from zero. I had ten years of work behind me. Ten years of building strength, body awareness, and mental grit. Ten years of community.
And all of it mattered more than I could have imagined.
The first treatment—a standard chemo protocol called R-CHOP—didn’t work.
That hit hard. But so had Fran, Cindy, Murph and countless other unnamed workouts I had logged since 2009. I knew how to fail forward, to take the next rep, the next breath, the next step.
I was fortunate to be offered CAR-T therapy, a cutting-edge treatment that reprograms your immune system to fight cancer. Even more incredibly, I became the first patient at Penn State Hershey to receive it.
And it worked.
But make no mistake, this wasn’t just science. It was also strength. My physical capacity. My community. My mindset. Every second I’d spent in the gym helped me handle what came next.
One of the foundational concepts in our space is the Sickness–Wellness–Fitness Continuum—and during my treatment, I saw just how true it is.
Because I’d spent years training toward fitness, I had a cushion. I didn’t start my fight from the “sick” end of the scale. I started from strong and that gave me room to fall without breaking.
Recovery was slow, humbling, and often hilarious. But I moved. I squatted. I rebuilt. I trusted the process, because I’d lived it before.
I came back not just to training but to purpose.
While my days of owning an affiliate are (probably) behind me, I am now working at Wodify so that I can continue to help gyms like CFL was, to create technology that empowers coaches, gym owners, and communities like the one that saved me. Every feature we build, every tool we launch it’s about helping more people find the resilience, connection, and overall preparedness that I did.
Because life doesn’t ask permission to get hard. But fitness can help you face it head-on.
At Wodify, we believe in more than sets and reps. We believe in human potential. We believe that technology should enhance real-world impact — whether it’s helping coaches lead better classes or helping survivors like me tell their stories.
This journey wasn’t one I chose, but it’s one I was prepared for — because of fitness, because of community, and now, because of Wodify.
To every coach, affiliate owner, and athlete out there: keep showing up. What you’re building matters. More than you know.
About the author:
A former CrossFit box owner and cancer survivor, Tim spent over a decade coaching, competing, and building a community that shaped his grit, empathy, and leadership style. Today, he brings that same passion to his role in business development at Wodify, helping fitness professionals around the world thrive. Outside the office, he rides bikes and motorcycles, plays guitar, drinks great coffee, and lives fueled by relentless positivity.
