An Interview with PC Alum Mikey O’Brien

by Greg Lahr ’26 on February 12, 2026

Sports

Most people may know Mikey O’Brien through his social media presence, where he has created the persona “Mikey O’ver.” O’Brien, a Providence College graduate from the class of 2020, had to endure the difficult job market that most 2020 graduates face. A finance major here at PC, he had a few options after graduation, but none that ever materialized. With O’Brien’s father being a Seton Hall University graduate, he was surrounded by sports, especially Big East basketball, at a young age.

Despite his father attending a Big East rival, O’Brien ended up here at PC. He made many friends and connections, and has learned one lesson that he has carried with him since his graduation: there can always be a way to find your path through the most unlikely ways.

In 2018, O’Brien got an internship at the National Football League Network. He met someone who would eventually give him one of his biggest opportunities, Trent Attyah, known on social media as @BookItWithTrent. After O’Brien struggled with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the 2020 job market, Attyah reached out to him with an idea: to create a social platform that allowed sports bettors to connect with each other and share their content and bets.

O’Brien was brought on to the original fundraising team and was trying to build what would become Bookit Sports. After his friend Attyah encouraged him to post content on the platform, he needed a name, and he liked to bet on overs for sports games. That is when the name and persona “Mikey O’ver” was born.

Slowly, O’Brien built a mass following online through posting content and sports picks. Today, that has led him to have over 130,000 followers on X. However, having a high-profile social media presence comes with many ramifications. On social media, people will always have something to say and comment on what people post, especially when money is involved. At first, getting online hate can be stressful. He has learned that there is more to life than online hate and that there are nice people out there. O’Brien knows that it is what he signed up for with social media.

Now, after being a controversial online figure after his time at PC, O’Brien has learned to rebrand himself. As he gets older, he is learning to become himself again. Having an online social media presence doesn’t have to change you, and you can fully enjoy what you do when you can be yourself. Recently, he has signed a new deal with CBS Sports to continue doing what he loves, covering sports and posting picks.

Providence College Graduate Starts Web Company

by Emma Strempfer '24 on October 27, 2022
Editor-in-Chief

News

Providence College graduate Mathew Carlson ’20 spoke with The Cowl this week to discuss his recently founded company and website, ParentPresents. Originally from Ramsey, New Jersey, Carlson was a Business Economics and Finance major and President of the Golf Team at PC.

Carlson’s graduating year and start to his professional career were uniquely difficult, as the world was thrown into the relatively early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Carlson always knew he wanted to be an entrepreneur, but the pandemic, remote work, and living at home gave him inspiration for his company. At the time, he had just started working for a consumer healthcare company.

“Living at home, I realized that there was a sneaky amount of times young adults with newfound disposable incomes have to find a thoughtful gift for their parents— both birthdays, anniversaries, Christmas, and Mother’s and Father’s Day.” Carlson suspected that many other college students and recent graduates felt the same pressure to find meaningful and exciting gifts.

As stated on the website, he wants the company to be “the go-to spot for Millennials and Gen Z to find “giftspiration” when it’s time to buy presents for their parents.” ParentPresents is dedicated to gift-giving just for parents.

For Carlson, having a smooth and easy-to-navigate website is essential. The site provides gift-giving guides tailored to specific interests that are constantly updated. “I want the company to be the authority in the gift-giving space—an intermediary between consumers and brands.”

At this point, branding is the company’s main objective. Carlson is working with Good Monday Productions, a New York-based professional video and marketing service. “They are great,” Carlson says. “I got connected with them through one of my roommates at PC, Frank Cassisi ’20.”

To effectively establish brand recognition amongst young adults, viral social media posts are the name of the game. Carlson and Good Monday Productions are working hard to produce click-worthy content on TikTok (@parentpresents).

Carlson greatly values his time as a student at the PCSB. “My PC education helped me a ton—they exposed me to everything. Classes like organizational behavior and marketing are so relevant to what I am doing now.” He was also able to develop a connection with a PC graduate and mentor. “Kevin Marzollo ’07 has been an incredible mentor and asset,” he said. ParentPresents can also be found on Instagram (@parentpresents).