Senior Speaker 2026: Nora Giannetti

During her first two years as a UMass Amherst student, Nora Giannetti wasn’t sure what her niche on campus should be. She tried the rowing team but didn’t enjoy the 4 a.m. wake-ups. Sophomore year, she chose a different path, commuting from her Southampton, Mass., home in the fall. Then, that spring, she moved to Hawaii through the National Student Exchange. While there, she launched a gluten-free baking business and spent that summer exploring the flavors of the “The Aloha State” and testing recipes.

When she returned to the Isenberg School of Management for her junior year, Giannetti, an operations and information science major, continued pursuing her rising entrepreneurial mindset.

“It wasn’t until that year that I truly found my place,” said Giannetti, who spent the 2024–2025 academic year competing in Isenberg pitch competitions, winning grant funding, and challenging herself in new ways, such as joining the Isenberg Sales Club, through which she discovered a passion for sales.

Giannetti, who has been selected to represent the Class of 2026 as the featured student speaker at this year’s Isenberg Senior Celebration on May 16 at the Mullins Center, hopes her 1,000 classmates walk away from listening to her message with a sense of confidence to take up space and do things that “scare them,” she said.

Because, for Giannetti, it’s personal.

“I have a form of dwarfism called achondroplasia, which means I stand at just under 4 feet tall,” she said. “Because of that, people have often made assumptions about me and my abilities before I even have the chance to speak. When I was younger, those judgments really affected me.”

Over time, she learned to turn that doubt into motivation.

“Showing people what I’m truly capable of has become one of the most rewarding parts of my journey,” said Giannetti. “I realized that I belong in every room I walk into, and so does everyone else.”

Baking Up a Business Idea

Before she learned she had a knack for sales, Giannetti started her “luxury gluten-free desserts” baking business, Redefined Delights, in Hawaii in early 2024. In her dorm kitchen, she tested recipes with different ingredients and flavor combinations.

“I have been gluten-free for over four years, and I started the company because I felt like luxury desserts were never really made to be gluten-free,” she said. “I wanted people with gluten allergies or intolerances to still be able to enjoy those kinds of desserts, while also creating something that anyone would want to eat, regardless of dietary restrictions.”

Once she had the recipes she loved, she built a business plan and competed in her first pitch competition through the PACE Entrepreneurship Center at University of Hawaii Mānoa and ended up winning $2,000 in startup funding, which helped her to officially launch the business. When she returned home to Massachusetts a few months later, she obtained the proper permits and her home kitchen license and spent the summer selling cookies, brownies, and other desserts at local farmers' markets.

“The experience taught me so much about entrepreneurship, problem-solving, confidence, and, honestly, just trusting myself,” she said. “It showed me that I can accomplish things I once thought were out of reach. It was also where I found my start in sales, because every single day, I was learning how to sell both myself and my product.”

Discovering a Passion for Sales and Leadership

Ever since, she’s been honing her leadership skills, having served as co-president of the Isenberg Sales Club and co-founding the Isenberg Sales Academy, which launched this academic year.

“It challenged me, helped me grow as a leader, and gave me the foundation that brought me to this moment,” she said of the Sales Club.

Nora Giannetti at right, with some of her fellow Isenberg Sales Club members

In his nomination of Giannetti to be senior speaker, Isenberg Marketing Senior Lecturer Matthew Glennon said: “Nora represents exactly the kind of leader we would want to address the senior class: Someone who leads by example, lifts others up, and leaves a lasting impact on the community.”

In her Sales Club role, she served as a mentor and coach—most recently at this spring’s National Collegiate Sales Competition in Atlanta—and has played a key role in growing the Sales Club to new heights. She led the club to develop professional selling skills through workshops, corporate partnerships, and competitions; and developed and maintained relationships with recruiters, sponsors, and alumni to create a career pipeline for members. As an individual competitor, she placed first runner-up in the Isenberg Sales Competition and was a semi-finalist in the Northeast Intercollegiate Sales Competition (NISC).

Just as importantly, Glennon noted, “She has created meaningful career opportunities for others by building connections with companies in the private sector.”

“As co-president, my biggest focus was growing both our people and our performance,” Giannetti said. “This year was huge for us. (Fellow senior) Layza Coelho and I competed at the International Collegiate Sales Competition (ICSC) in November, and both made club history with how we placed, and UMass finished 9th overall. Then, at NISC, just a few weeks later, I had the chance to coach with our e-board. For the first time, we had four students make it to the quarterfinals, one to the finals, and two in the speed sell finals.”

In addition, Giannetti won first place in a fall 2024 ULaunch Challenge pitch competition through the Entrepreneurship Club (sponsored by the Berthiaume Center for Entrepreneurship). Her pitch was for a nutrition and meal-planning website.

“Overall, these competitions taught me that almost any idea can become a business opportunity when you truly understand the customer and the purpose behind what you are creating,” she said. “They also made me much more confident in my ability to pitch, publicly speak, and communicate ideas effectively. Most importantly, they taught me to trust my creativity and believe that my ideas are worth pursuing.”

Thankful for Friendships—Especially When Tragedy Hits Home

As her time as an Isenberg undergraduate comes to a close, Giannetti reflected on how much the Sales Club has impacted her life, in good times and in bad.

“More than anything,” she said, “the Sales Club gave me a group of people who consistently pushed me to get better.”

That group of people came to her aid in early November 2025, when a fire broke out at an off-campus apartment complex on Olympia Drive in Amherst. The blaze displaced over 200 students—and Giannetti was one of them. She had been away at ICSC at the time.

“One moment that really showed me the strength of those friendships was when I lost my house while attending the competition in Florida,” she recalled. “While I was down there, I was getting so many phone calls saying my home was on fire, and when I returned to campus, everything I had was lost. Because of a friendship I had built with another Sales Club member, Layza opened her home to me and let me stay with her when we returned. Experiences like that showed me that the Isenberg community is so much more than networking or professional development—it truly becomes a family.”

Reflecting—and Looking Ahead

After graduation, Giannetti will begin her professional career as a business development representative at HubSpot, in Cambridge, Mass.

She’s confident that her Isenberg experience, especially through the Sales Club and Glennon’s Marketing 425 course, prepared her for her new role.

“The club taught me the fundamentals of sales in a hands-on way, and Professor Glennon’s class helped me think more strategically about communication and how to approach different conversations,” said Giannetti. “He taught me the fundamentals of selling and completely opened my eyes to new ways of thinking. He has also been an incredible mentor and has offered some of the best advice and guidance throughout my time here.

“Group projects also taught me how to work with different types of people, when to step up and lead, and when to step back and support,” she added. “Professional development resources in Isenberg’s Office of Career Success also made a huge difference. Through resume help, interview prep, and networking opportunities, I felt really supported throughout the entire job search process.”

Giannetti said she also found that OIM Associate Department Chair and Senior Lecturer Michele Burch’s OIM 420 course influenced how she thinks about solving business problems, particularly since she wants to start her own business someday.

“It wasn’t just about lean methodologies and manufacturing time covered in the course; it was also about how to lead people, build a strong team, and create something that runs well,” she said. “What stood out the most, though, was how Professor Burch ran the class. It felt like a community. I genuinely looked forward to going every day, not just because of what we were learning, but because of the people and the environment she created. It showed me what good leadership looks like. I’ve taken a lot of that into how I lead in the Sales Club, especially when it comes to building a team culture where people feel supported and want to show up.”

Advice for Future Isenberg Students

Giannetti encouraged future students considering a business education to embark on their college journey at Isenberg—especially if they’re interested in sales, leadership, and career readiness.

“I have made some amazing friends through the Sales Club and through being active within the Isenberg community,” she said. “Walking into the Berthiaume Business Innovation Hub feels like a breath of fresh air. Seeing familiar faces smiling and supporting one another is always so fun.”

Giannetti also recommends students take advantage of everything Isenberg has to offer.

“Choosing Isenberg was one of the best decisions I’ve made,” she said. “The school gives you so many opportunities; it’s about whether you take them. So, if there’s one thing I hope people take away from my message, it’s this: Take the jump, use your voice, and don’t be afraid to take up space.”