11. SRBA Member Spotlight - World's Largest SRB Harvard Student Agencies w/ Student CEO Frankie F.

HARVARD STUDENT AGENCIES (HSA)

Founded in 1957, Harvard Student Agencies (HSA) is the world’s largest student-run business, operating 13 diverse companies across industries like retail, publishing, research, and advertising. With over 900 student employees each year and more than $13 million in annual revenue, HSA offers Harvard undergraduates valuable work experience while helping offset educational costs through competitive wages.

Their mission is simple: to educate, empower, and inspire Harvard College students through real-world employment and business experience.

DON’T MISS INTERVIEW

SRBA President Owen Raisch conducted an IN-DEPTH INTERVIEW with Frankie Freeman, President of Harvard Student Agencies, and you don’t want to miss it!Beyond exploring the history and make-up of HSA, Frankie shares his personal journey from serving fries at McDonalds to the TOP of the World's Largest SRB, where he applies his unique experience to thrive as a “servant leader.”

Servant leadership is a critical skill that comes naturally to Frankie - he has faced challenges that acted as chisels shaping his approach to working with people, both as a first generation student and as someone that daily has to face his own mortality due to a serious health condition that he explains in detail.

If that’s not enough of a hook, Frankie also addresses best-selling author Seth Godin. In our earlier INTERVIEW WITH SETH GODIN, Seth shared his experience with HSA as a student at Tufts and his concern that established “professional” organizations like HSA may fail to provide students with opportunities to fail and learn through creative innovation.

Seth is nuanced, so don’t take our word for it - listen to the interview yourself. Frankie took time to challenge Seth’s perspective (as Owen described it) and discussed unique methods and examples of how HSA has gone out of its way to make innovation happen, including its acquisition of student-founded firms.

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(0 : 00) Intro & set-up

Owen welcomes Frankie; quick stats on Harvard Student Agencies (HSA) as “the world’s largest student-run business.”

(4 : 30) Frankie’s path to HSA

Growing up in Pawtucket (RI), joining Harvard, recruiting into HSA, and juggling 10-15 hrs/week as a student manager.

(26 : 15) First-gen identity & resilience

Frankie shares being “first-generation, low-income” and how that shapes their leadership approach.

(33 : 12) Type 1 diabetes & adversity

Diagnosis story and lessons on balancing health, academics, and a 1 000-employee organization.

(34 : 00) Inside HSA operations

Breakdown of HSA’s 12 business units, revenue drivers, staff training, and why student wages matter.

(55 : 00) Culture, pay equity & leadership lessons

How Frankie improves customer feedback loops, ensures fair compensation, and develops future CEOs.

(1 : 30) Advice & wrap-up

Tips for student entrepreneurs/first-gen peers, Frankie’s vision beyond HSA, rapid-fire questions, and closing thanks.