Meet Chinthaka “Chin” Weerappuli | Philanthropist – Healthcare Consultant – MBA Student

We had the good fortune of connecting with Chinthaka “Chin” Weerappuli and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Chinthaka “Chin”, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
My parents made so many sacrifices to make it to America from Sri Lanka to fulfil their dream of raising a family with all the opportunity in the world. My Dad was a PhD student at Iowa State University when they had their first child in Ames with very little to their name. Yet they always found ways to help others – providing meals, loaning out their car, even sharing clothing. They would emphasize that so many people helped them to just get to the States and start a life, that they could always find a little something to help others looking for their American Dream. That attitude of gratitude is what led me to starting The Underdog Family, where we strive to cultivate a stronger community by highlighting the gems within it. We truly believe if you provide opportunity for every community member to have a fair shot at success, you will see your community as a whole flourish.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
To steal a cliché from a certain Football coach, the quote that epitomizes me best is someone who, “attacks each day with an enthusiasm unknown to mankind.” I really do not consider myself intellectually gifted, but if you put a challenge in front of me, you can bet that you’re going to get my absolute best in trying to overcome it, through unrelenting hustle and grit. The source of this? Well if you’ve ever met me you know that I’m not physically imposing to say the least. Playing sports growing up I would always have to work twice as hard to overcome my physical limitations, but I started to relish being the underdog.

I applied this chip on my shoulder through my time at The University of Michigan which led to my career at Epic Systems. A tremendously competitive healthcare software company with clients across the world, I am incredibly proud to have been promoted to be one of the youngest managers at the company back in 2014. Fast forward to 2021, and I’m still blessed to be with the company, now in their consulting division, as the 14th employee in a division that has grown to over 500. Finally, to bring it all full circle, I’m slated to graduate with my second degree from The University of Michigan in April of 2022, as I complete my eMBA from The Ross School of Business.

The biggest lesson I’ve learned in my career is that if you’re not dealing with a little discomfort and pain during your day to day, you’re likely not growing. Growth is uncomfortable. Growth allows you to be better today than yesterday, better tomorrow than today. But growth is not meant to be easy. Enjoy the pain in that growth, and you’ll see progress at a whole new level when you take the time to look back on how far you have come.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
My favorite part about living in Denver is that you have this absolute gem of a city surrounded by all the natural beauty you could ever dream of. While you could spend a full week just exploring the city, my go to itinerary is usually a combination of playing in the mountains, hiking in Boulder, biking in Golden, and going out for drinks in Rhino.

My mountain favorite is a neck and neck tie between Steamboat Springs, Vail, and Telluride, although my favorite mountain experience was hiking with a few friends from Aspen to Crested Butte.

I absolutely love Denver’s food scene and would love to give a special shoutout to Hayati Mediterranean Grill, Barcelona Wine Bar, and the incredibly fresh pizza at Gattara. The food is especially delicious after working up an appetite hiking the Boulder Flat Irons less than an hour away from the city or biking from Denver to a few breweries in Golden!

If I’m just looking to blow off some steam in the city though, you can almost always find me on Larimer street up in Rhino. Just a few blocks from my apartment, grabbing drinks at The Welton Room, Improper City, Millers and Rossi or having a little Sunday Funday at Lustre Pearl has never let me down!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
First and foremost I would like to to thank my parents. Everything I do is because of their relentless sacrifice to give me every opportunity a kid could ask for.

Specifically regarding The Underdog Family, we would not be where we are without my VP’s Derrick Knudsen and Darian Nocera. It sounds simple, find two incredibly talented and capable people, who also happen to be your best friends, ask them for anywhere between 20-50 hours a week of their time, oh and provide them zero compensation in return. A slam dunk right?! Yet that’s exactly what they agreed to, and here we are, 10 months later, with so much to show for our blood, sweat, and tears.

Website: www.iamtuf.org

Instagram: iamtuf

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/iamtuf/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/iamtuf/