Sitting on the living room coach with a widescreen TV playing “Shark Tank” is what CHS9 vice president of administration Srithan Yella watched over the COVID-19 pandemic. The innovative products, the deliberation of sales and marketing captivated Yella to his calling: business.

“Watching ‘Shark Tank’ sparked my interest,” Yella said. “It’s really interesting how it works, the sharks and how the presenters market their ideas; that to me shows practically my interests in business.”

In an effort to dive deeper, Yella entered CHS9’s B hall collaboration space to attend the first DECA meeting of the school year and presented his officer election speech to lead the CHS9 DECA chapter.

“I wanted to run to take charge of the club and help the club progress well and work efficiently because I didn’t feel that many people [were] stepping up,” Yella said.

He was one of the six individuals elected and had an interview with CHS9 DECA advisor Kim Porter prior to securing the position of vice president of administration  regarding his leadership abilities 

“He’s got [an] authoritative voice and he will command the attention of his audience easily and immediately,” Porter said.

Yella’s duties as vice president are maintaining attendance records and merit points. His duties are crucial to running meetings effectively as witnessed by CHS9 DECA vice president of finance Aryan Raj.

“Srithan compliments everyone else on the team,” Raj said.  “When everybody works together with Srithan, it’s really effective and everybody benefits from it.”

Quality over quantity, a phrase reflecting current standards of society and leadership is a quality which many deem excellent. Porter thinks leadership is a crucial quality a student should obtain for the harsh future.

“In the business world, it’s going to be important that you help guide people into the company’s vision; so leadership skills are important for that,” Porter said. “I’m always thinking about leadership [as] getting people to do something that they otherwise would not do on their own and that’s what we try to train [into] leaders here at CHS9 DECA.”

Yella found leadership through the CHS9 DECA club by organizing and conducting events, such as the popcorn fundraiser and the Chipotle Social Night. The fundraisers took place to ease members’ concerns over the DECA state tournament expenses. The club raised around $1,400 of revenue.

Yella sharpens his communication and marketing skills through these fundraisers in hopes to become a better VP of administration as he leads the meetings.