Perseverance, Service Key in UCF Alum, Entrepreneur Success

Carey Sobel ’09 has experienced many successes over his career, serving as an entrepreneur in the Orlando community since he arrived on UCF’s campus in 2005. His accomplishments in the business industry, service and philanthropy, has led to awards, such as Orlando Business Journal’s 40 Under 40 Award and UCF’s 30 Under 30 Alumni Award. He also was a recipient of the inaugural Young Alumni Award at UCF’s Shining Knights Ceremony and the Entrepreneurial Alumni Award during the UCF College of Business Hall of Fame event.

However, it was what was done Aug. 3 of this year that will resonate with him for a lifetime, when he was a speaker at UCF’s summer commencement ceremony. Sobel, a management alum, spoke during the 9 a.m. ceremony to students on his experience at the university, sharing traits developed during his time as a student.

“It’s such an honor to even be considered, let alone to actually give that that that speech,” Sobel says. “It was without a question a life highlight, something that I’ll never forget. I have a lot of gratitude for UCF thinking highly enough of me to address their graduates.”

Sobel developed resiliency and the adaptability throughout his time at UCF. During his freshman year, he began DJing, which helped him develop connections with people around Central Florida. However, during the summer after his freshman year, a conversation with his parents put him at a crossroads. Like many other families in the mid-2000s, Sobel’s parents had gone through financial hardships that would leave them unable to assist with his education. He could either move back to South Florida and go to the local community college or stay in Orlando and figure it out. Sobel not only figured it out but immersed himself in more career opportunities. His job led to access to bars and developed into a business opportunity, KnightLyfe, a website that provided photography in social settings and served as an advertising platform for local businesses. KnightLyfe also provided promotional services and event management.

Those connections helped Sobel develop an entrepreneurial spirit and a variety of ventures in the marketing and hospitality industries. One of example was helping UCF alumni and former football players Travis Barr ’09 and Kyle Israel ’08 open a restaurant, Terrace 390. With Sobel’s business and marketing insight, the former student-athletes secured the space for the restaurant, which several other big brands were competing for. Sobel joined the group as a partner, and they ran the restaurant for three years before selling it for a profit. The restaurant is where Sobel also met his wife, Lauren (Howard) Sobel ’12 ’17DPT. After being involved as many as eight businesses at once, Sobel recently narrowed his focus to two ventures, utilizing his marketing background in the process. In March, he sold his digital marketing agency, 321 the Agency, and is an owner of Boss Group International, a merger and acquisition firm helping people buy and sell businesses. He also serves as the chief marketing officer for Coastal Investment Company, a private equity firm providing people access to and advice about institutional real estate and venture capital investment opportunities.

“I love helping people and I’ve had so many friends reach out to me on things as simple as can you help me form an LLC?” Sobel says. “Can you look at my marketing strategy? What would you do to grow this business? I’ve had hundreds of those conversations with friends of mine, and I genuinely enjoy watching people succeed and helping them and knowing I can have an impact.”

The desire to watch people succeed extends beyond people Sobel knows personally. After a speaking engagement at UCF’s Career Fest, where he shared his work at 321 the Agency, he spoke with a student interested in the field.  The conversation led to an internship with 321 the Agency, followed by a job with the company. During that time, Sobel mentored the student and they remain close friends.“He’s one of the best digital marketers I’ve ever met in my life, and I just was able to help inspire and influence him,” Sobel says.

Throughout his time at UCF and beyond, Sobel has maintained resiliency and adaptability to achieve success in many industries. As a reminder of to maintain these qualities, Sobel keeps a paper from a fortune cookie the summer before college that reads: “It’s the small steps that you take that ultimately bring you great fortune.” The steps Sobel took were rooted in his desire to succeed, serve others and his core value of integrity, he says.

“I have always started every one of my relationships with full trust and full respect of each person that I met,” Sobel says. “It gives an opportunity to really see what energies you have and interests you share. I want to be remembered as a person that held integrity high and treated people with the respect because your legacy is not how much money you have in the bank or necessarily what you accomplished professionally — it’s how people remember you.”