Perseverance, Service Key in UCF Alum, Entrepreneur Success

Summer commencement speaker and UCF alumnus Carey Sobel ’09’s entrepreneurial spirit has led to number of career successes.

By Ryan Randall | August 15, 2024

Carey Sobel ’09 speaks at UCF’s 2024 summer commencement.

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.”

Carey Recognized in OBJ’s 2018 40 Under 40 Class

Carey was recognized in the Orlando Business Journal’s 2018 40 Under 40 Class. The announcement was made on October 23, 2018 and the celebration took place on November 8th, 2018 at Mango’s Tropical Cafe. 

From the Orlando Business Journal:

The City Beautiful is chock full of impressive young professionals who not only seek business success, but want to contribute to making Orlando a great place to live, work and play.

That’s what stands out about Orlando Business Journal‘s 2018 40 Under 40 Awards honorees, people who have proven their potential by taking leadership roles in Orange, Seminole, Osceola, Lake, Volusia or Brevard counties — and all are younger than age 40. These individuals also consider community service just as important as career advancement. Despite their young age, these 40 young men and women are playing a key role in shaping our community.

Carey shared the honor with 13 other UCF Alumni.  The Orlando Business Journal published an article about Carey‘s accomplishments that helped earn him this award.  If you are not a member of the Orlando Business Journal, you can read this article below:

By Anjali Fluker  – Associate Managing Editor, Orlando Business Journal

Carey Sobel went through the biggest change in his life thus far about a little more than a year ago, when he and his wife adopted a little girl.

The 31-year-old Orlando entrepreneur and his wife, Lauren, quickly adjusted from newlyweds to parents after they were married in December 2016 and shortly thereafter, adopted Lauren’s niece, Marley, who had lost both her parents. Marley, now 7 years old, recently became a big sister, as the Sobels had a baby in October.

Meanwhile, Sobel has had plenty of career activity in recent years. He leads a team of 32 employees as partner and chief strategy officer of Orlando-based marketing and advertising agency Three21 Creative Group LLC. Sobel began working at Three21 in September 2013 and played a big role in growing the firm’s revenue from roughly $100,000 the year before he joined to nearly $7 million in 2017, and now it’s on pace to hit $8 million by year’s end. Sobel also is a business intermediary of The Boss Group LLC, a business brokerage firm in which he has lead marketing efforts and completed several deals, helping boost year-over-year sales since joining in May 2013. He became partner in The Boss Group in August 2015.

Sobel also has owned several other businesses, including one that took pictures of students at nightclubs and bars and posted them online; a social networking firm; and several local restaurants. That entrepreneurial spirit helps him when it comes to networking and creating partnerships.

Sobel was chosen as an Orlando Business Journal 2018 40 Under 40 Awards honoree. Here’s more from Sobel:

My fun work title: Firefighter

What keeps me in Orlando: I moved here from Philadelphia to attend UCF, and put my flag in the ground, never looking back. Orlando now is my home, and I take pride in adding value to the community of my alma mater. I am involved in my eighth business in Orlando since my arrival, and see tremendous growth potential in real estate, technology and general commerce. The diversity of the city and all the hidden gems continue to surprise me. 

My hidden talent: I have been a DJ since I was 12 and all through college and after. I also owned a mobile entertainment company from my arrival in Orlando in 2005 until 2017, when I hung up the headphones.

Favorite morning drink: Triple shot of espresso, or latte with three shots of espresso. All that matters is, espresso. Lots of it.

My tattoo: I do not have one, but I plan to get one once all Philadelphia sports teams win a championship while I’m alive. So far, the Phillies and Eagles have done it; I’m waiting on the Flyers and Sixers.

Most used app on my smartphone: Slack to stay in touch with my 321 team; and Wunderlist, my way of keeping track of my schedule and to-do lists.

Where you can find me on social media: Instagram for my entertainment, LinkedIn for business development, and Facebook to stay in touch with family and friends across the country. But my favorite is Timehop, which recalls the current day but from 10 years ago. I enjoy looking at my journey and seeing how far I have come.

My three-word motto: Better than yesterday