Isabela Presti has managed to make the most of her time at UCLA.

Fresh off of her capstone project, the fourth-year music industry student said she has learned to take advantage of every opportunity that comes her way. On top of being a student, Presti said her time is filled by an internship with the manager group State of the Art DTLA and her position as manager for UCLA-based alt-rock band Royal Fools.

“There are so many different sides of the industry I’m getting to see,” Presti said. “Just being in the room with so many people who I know have made it and getting to listen in on their conversations – I’m learning so much from it.”

Presti’s interest in music is nothing new, she said. Growing up in New Jersey, Presti said she learned to play guitar while being a member of her family band with her older sister and father. During her childhood, she said one of her favorite things to do was to watch videos of The Beatles with her father. She added that her experience in competitive dance as a child further reinforced her musical upbringing.

As she entered her preteen years, Presti said she began attending concerts, most notably the Ross Lynch-fronted pop-rock band, R5. Presti’s mother, Rosita Presti, said she and her daughter took a backstage tour at the R5 show, where Isabela was first exposed to the behind-the-scenes world of a concert.

“The more concerts I went to in middle school and high school, I realized that this was something I wanted to learn more about,” Isabela said. “I became more curious about everything else past the live performance – everything on the label side and the artist side – and I realized that you could study music industry in college. That was it for me.”

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While Isabela’s parents made sure to expose her to a diverse array of music, Rosita said her daughter kept their music knowledge current. Isabela developed a keen sense of knowing when an artist would explode in popularity, such as with Conan Gray or Tate McRae, Rosita said. The rise of Chappell Roan especially indicated Isabela’s ability. From the day “Pink Pony Club” was released as a single, Isabela said she watched Roan develop from an unknown artist to the pop star she is today.

Watching these musicians rise to fame inspired her to help other artists achieve similar success, Isabela said. After moving to UCLA from the East Coast, she said she has gotten to know many other music industry students. In a music theory class during her second year, Isabela said she became close friends with twin brothers August, a former Daily Bruin contributor, and Greyson Suchecki, both fellow fourth-year music industry students and Royal Fools’ frontmen. The duo released their first single “Pretender” in the same months they were becoming close friends with Isabela. She would periodically ask if they were in need of a manager, Isabela added. While the group treated the offers as a joke for a while, Isabela said the twins reached out to her over the summer of 2023 to officially ask her to manage the band.

In her day-to-day, Isabela said her work as a manager deals with sorting through emails, reaching out to potential collaborators, promoting the band through media opportunities and submitting Royal Fools’ music to Spotify playlists. Greyson said Isabela’s leadership in the band’s administrative work has allowed the band members to focus on their respective passions.

“By having somebody else worry about all these different things that I was doing before, it means that, every time I sit down to work, I say, ‘What needs to get done on the music,’ not, ‘What needs to get done in general,’” Greyson said. “The ‘in general’ is just far too wide for one person to cover.”

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Greyson said Isabela’s help allowed Royal Fools to release their debut EP “Prom” in time for their capstone projects. Greyson said he was able to discuss the music portion of “Prom,” while August created a short film and Isabela focused on the marketing and budgeting that went into the EP’s release. Throughout the process, Isabela said being a manager is more than being an employee but also a friend.

“They always say don’t mix work with friends, but, at the same time, having somebody that we wholeheartedly trust means that, when we’re freaking out before a gig because things aren’t going correctly, it’s somebody that I trust to be there,” August said. “She’s somebody that I am grateful to have.”

Moving into the future, Isabela said she plans to continue her work with Royal Fools and expand her experience in music management and artists and repertoire. Isabela said her professors, especially those actively working in the music industry, have been one of the best parts of her journey at UCLA, as they share expertise and stories of their work in the music industry. Classes on different subject matters, as well as field trips to Universal Music Group and other venues, have prepared her to enter the music industry as a professional, she added.

In the long run, Rosita said Isabela is determined to win a Grammy Award one day. Even if it’s from a random idea she shares from the back of the studio, Isabela said she is confident that the gilded gramophone is in her future, even though she doesn’t know how it will happen.

“I assure you, this girl surprises,” Rosita said. “Now, let’s just sit and wait, and maybe we should start taking bets about when this Grammy’s going to be awarded to her.”