Entrepreneurialat an early age, Markel’s first business credit was a lemonade stand in which his mom and sister were key investors. He soon picked up a paper route and earned real-world sales experience hawking candy out of his socks at school. A knack for acting led him to the world of high school theater, where he met his wife. The two moved to Los Angeles to attend Loyola Marymount University, then New York, where Dan earned an MFA from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. Proving you really can do it all, he juggled running a successful Los Angeles-based real estate firm with appearances on New York soap operas, all while raising a family of six.

He launched his professional investing career by flipping houses. He progressed to larger projects by purchasing his first apartment building in Los Angeles with a group of family and friends. Shortly thereafter, he joined Morgan Stanley on Wall St. – receiving his training in the fated World Trade Centers. All while his real estate firm grew to nearly 4,000 apartment units across the country, including an award-winning Live Work Loft Development in Los Angeles. After launch several startups, a personal calling of a revolutionary treatment for addiction and alcoholism (with his own family deeply affected), he began his career as a healthcare entrepreneur launching a national company teamed with Addiction Psychiatrists in 14 states offering a revolutionary treatment for addiction and recovery thru a Naltrexone implant. This treatment, by slowing releasing the medicine – highly effective in greatly reducing or eliminating cravings, give the afflicted a fight chance at recovery during those most difficult first few months of abstinence. That company, MyLifeRecovery2.0 is awaiting FDA approval (currently in Phase II of human trials).

During this time he attended University of Southern California for his Executive MBA, where he completed one year before having to spend full time focusing on his companies.

All throughout his career, he never feared career changes/enhances or the adventure of a new industry. To that end, over his long diverse career he has invested and raised in excess of $100 million for over 40 private placement offerings in multiple industries.

The last two years, while incubating several other companies, he Co-Founded Intrivo Diagnostics, developer of the On/Go Covid 10 OTC Testing Kits – a market favorite for its accuracy and proprietary APP for result tracking.

Now with Pure Blue Group, he is in the process of launching several new start ups in the healthcare, wellness, fitness, energy, technology, and Dining – most notably, he is Founder/CEO of Rise Medical, a first-of-its-kind community of medical professionals and sexual wellness experts dedicated to the personalized treatment of vitality issues through integrative care. Alongside his wife of 30 years, he aims to provide a customized, empowering approach to rejuvenating sexual health and discovering true intimacy. Growing up in a large family separated by bitter divorce led Markel to recognize the relational cost of ongoing dysfunction and disconnection. Now, armed with trademark positivity, a sense of humor, and a unique interdisciplinary perspective, he finds immense satisfaction in helping clients work toward greater connection in their relationships.

Finally, with a proven track record of entrepreneurial success a mile long, Markel’s proudest achievement remains helping to raise his four amazing children (now adults): Vivian, Jackson, Max, and Stella. Believing that “the true test of a person’s character is what he does when no one is watching,” he strives to live every day with integrity and a lens of gratitude. He currently splits time between California and his home state of Nebraska with wife and Rise Medical Co-Founder Kathleen and their two dogs, Theo and Truck. Learn more at RiseMedical.com and follow @RiseMedicalinc on Instagram. Rise Medical: The Art & Science of Sexual Wellness™