Marc C. Upshaw,
Co-Dreamer and Achiever
Marc is co-founder of The SaMarc Foundation. A successful entrepreneur, Marc is CEO of Global Diagnostic Services, Inc.—a medical firm with over 125 employees, offering services in 25 locations throughout Georgia, Alabama, Florida and Washington DC.
Marc set out to become a professional basketball player. He played for Columbus High and was awarded a full student-athlete scholarship at the University of Rhode Island. Marc was heavily pursued by NBA teams, the Boston Celtics and the Philadelphia 76ers, but a knee injury forced him to walk away from the court.
Marc graduated the University of Rhode Island with a major in Communications and a minor in Marketing. Dealing with his knee injury gave Marc a patient’s perspective on the medical needs in many hospital and treatment centers. He decided to build on this experience and took up the position of a sales representative for a major health insurance agency. He became successful quickly and received numerous awards. Marc was promoted to a managerial position, and opened an office in Raleigh, North Carolina. He continued to expand the business by opening a second office in Greensboro, North Carolina. Despite his success in the health insurance sector, Marc was determined to move into medical services and returned to Atlanta to pursue that ambition.
He faced many challenges on his new career path, the main one resulting from a lack of experience in the medical industry. He was finally offered an opportunity to work with a major occupational clinic as a sales and marketing representative. His experience in the industry led to his discovery of a niche service that served both the medical professionals and their patients. This niche service became Global Diagnostic Services, and Marc is its CEO.
Marc attributes his success to taking risks, faith in himself and those around him, and just being able to dream big.