Isabelle Frangakis

Georgetown University, McDonough School of Business

“I “think different” and “do the impossible.”

Fun fact about yourself: I’m named after Belle from Beauty and the Beast.

Hometown: Hermitage, Pennsylvania

High School: Hickory High School

Major: Marketing and Operations & Analytics

Minor: Theology & Religious Studies

Favorite Business Course: Digital Technologies and Analytics

At the time of taking this course, I knew I wanted to be a marketing major, but had yet to decide on a second major. This course inspired me to study operations and analytics, which I believe was one of the best decisions that I made during my time at Georgetown. This course gave an overview of business analytics methodologies, specifically within Python, and introduced me to the concept of connector roles, which translate analytical insights to a business audience.

Extracurricular Activities, Community Work and Leadership Roles During College:

Involvements

• Peer Ambassadors Program (Captain) – Led and planned events for the Peer Ambassador Program, fostering mentorship in addition to representing the business school at orientation events and accepted students’ weekends
• Administration-nominated student representative to the Undergraduate Admissions Committee
• Teaching Assistant for Multiple Courses – Supported three undergraduate courses (Modeling Analytics, People Analytics, and Business Law) and one Master of Science in Business Analytics course (Psychology of Big Data)
• Consulting Coach – Supported a First Year Seminar class on a consulting project working with a local nonprofit
• Machine Learning Researcher – Working under a Georgetown professor to learn machine learning skills and conduct a research project

Student Organizations

• Georgetown Entertainment and Media Alliance (Head of Internal Operations)
• Hoyalytics (Director of Public Relations and Data Consultant)
• Georgetown Marketing Association (Strategic Consultant)

Awards and Honors

• Kosoy Women in Business Program (Inaugural Cohort Member) – Chosen to participate in a professional development program focused on networking and business skills in addition to fostering a community of women in the McDonough School of Business
• Ray Greenly Scholarship NRF Foundation

Where have you interned during your college career?

• Apple (Cupertino, California) – Apple Podcasts Product Management Intern
• National Cherry Blossom Festival (Washington, D.C) – Marketing and Communications Intern
• Reynolds Services Inc. (Greenville, Pennsylvania) – Marketing Intern

Where will you be working after graduation? I’m still considering my options!

Who is your favorite business professor? For my final core marketing course, I took Marketing Strategy Analytics with Professor Ronnie Goodstein. From learning how to champion the customer to how to “better-entiate” your marketing position, I learned so many valuable marketing lessons. Professor Goodstein also cares deeply about every student and took the time to get to know me as a person. Even three semesters after taking his class, he was excited to get breakfast together and catch up.

What is the biggest lesson you gained from studying business? As a marketing major, the biggest lesson I’ve learned is the importance of getting to know your customer. Without customers who care about your business, you won’t exist, and for me, this lesson applies more broadly to life as well. I believe that some of the most important parts of life are getting to know those around you, their interests, and what motivates them. Life wouldn’t really exist without friends and lasting relationships, and you create those by getting to know people. Putting time into getting to know your “customers,” i.e. any potential or existing relationships you may have, is what makes life truly valuable.

What advice would you give to a student looking to major in a business-related field? There are multiple paths to success, so don’t be afraid to do what you love! Every type of company needs people in business-related fields. Figure out what you love doing as early as possible and get involved in activities that relate to that passion. This will help professionally as you can develop skills for companies that you want to work for, and if you are acquiring skills and doing what you love, you will most likely also be more motivated and happier!

Looking back over your experience, what is the one thing you’d do differently in business school and why? One of my strengths is that I’m a very independent worker and love figuring things out myself, but sometimes this can stand in my own way. Everyone at the McDonough School of Business is very helpful and willing to provide mentorship and guidance, but I was really intimidated to ask for any help at first. Business school can be very pre-professional at times, and this was a bit of a culture shock to me. I wish I had looked for guidance from older peers, deans, and professors earlier on. Figuring out my interests and finding my communities within business became a lot easier once I started asking more questions and looking for advice, rather than trying to figure everything out alone.

What is one way that your business school has integrated AI into your programming? What is one insight you gained from using AI? Many of the professors at the McDonough School of Business have embraced artificial intelligence as a tool for in-class learning. In my Strategic Management class, we were encouraged to use AI as a tool for basic research, which could then be fact-checked and explored further using other sources. Similarly, we were encouraged to use AI as a tool to assist with more complicated SQL coding in my Developing and Managing Databases class.

Through these integrations, I have learned how to use AI to ask questions about course content in order to gain a deeper mastery of the material. Beyond the classroom, students also have opportunities to work directly with professors to further explore AI through research. I am currently working with one of my past professors to conduct machine learning research, where I have been able to strengthen my technical skills and understanding of AI.

Which academic, extracurricular or personal achievement are you most proud of? My favorite companies have always been Apple and Disney, so having the opportunity to intern at Apple was a dream come true. It was even more of a dream opportunity since it was with Apple Podcasts, and I could work directly with an entertainment medium that I love.

My time at the internship was also an amazing experience for growth. I said yes to many social activities and met many new friends who were also interning at Apple. I was able to further develop my skills, including data analytics, storytelling within presentations, and collaboration. I even competed in an intern-wide competition called iContest, pitching a new feature to Apple executives, where my team placed in the top 10 out of over 160 teams!

Which classmate do you most admire? I have never met a person who is more sure of their dreams and who more passionately pursues them than my roommate, Alicia Owens. I first met Alicia in a very unexpected place – a theology class in my freshman spring called Japanese Christian Literature. From the moment I met her, she was one of my favorite people to talk to on campus, and we quickly bonded over our shared love of entertainment.

It is that love of entertainment that Alicia has pursued as her career beyond college. I have been lucky enough to watch her progress and follow her dreams throughout her college career: becoming a minor in film and media studies and living in Los Angeles while interning at production companies. She also has natural leadership skills and is president of one of my involvements, Georgetown Entertainment and Media Alliance, where she helps to foster a larger community of those who love that field at Georgetown. I am so excited to see the amazing things that she will accomplish after graduation. I feel very lucky to be able to interact with her every day; she continuously inspires me to follow my dreams.

Who would you most want to thank for your success? Both of my parents have been my biggest supporters and heroes, but if I must choose just one person to thank, I would choose my dad, since he was my inspiration to go into business. My dad was a business major and is now a business owner. Growing up, I watched how he treated his employees with care and kindness. I also saw his ability to connect with others. I can remember watching him give a speech at a local college where he started with, “In the movie Cars, Lightning McQueen finds himself lost in Radiator Springs…” I could feel the audience’s energy shift as they became more engaged, and at that moment, I knew I wanted to be like him, which led me to the McDonough School of Business.

Growing up, my dad shaped my interests in Disney, Pixar, Star Wars, and Marvel. Additionally, my love of Apple grew from his long-standing passion for the company, which ultimately drove me to pursue my Apple internship. My dad is not only my greatest inspiration in my business journey, but also one of my biggest supporters. Through my ups-and-downs, he has always been there to motivate me and ultimately looks to support my happiness. He has shaped who I am, and as I look forward, I hope to continue to make him proud in everything that I do.

What are the top two items on your professional bucket list?

1. Serve in a role where I can make a positive impact on other people’s lives.

2. Work in a role related to marketing analytics at an entertainment company – I was already fortunate enough to experience this a little bit at my Apple internship and loved it!

What made Isabelle such an invaluable addition to the Class of 2026?

“I had a chance to teach Isabelle at Esade in Spain. What makes Isabelle great? From a professor’s perspective, Isabelle is a model student, what some of us call a “front row” student. Someone who can be counted on to regularly participate in class and lead by example. Beyond her academic abilities, Isabelle was also incredibly kind and generous to her peers. She embodies the collaborative spirit of our Georgetown community.”

Peter Jaworski
Teaching Professor of Strategy, Ethics, Economics, and Public Policy
Georgetown’s McDonough School of Business

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