The following Ask Uncle Marty™ column post was co-published on November 4, 2025 in MBC Today Volume 27 Issue 6, on the AYM High Consultants blog, and here on askunclemarty.com.
15 Cents
Honesty is defined as "acting with integrity by
avoiding deceit, lying, cheating, and stealing." It's a characteristic I
look for in friends, clients, and colleagues; it's very important to me. And
honesty is, I am incredibly proud to say, one of the most outstanding
characteristics possessed and exercised regularly by Clark and Codey Noel
Young, the wonderful couple who purchased my business from me in 2023 and have
taken it to incredible new heights.
How do I know this? Well, I just do...in my gut and in my
heart. I knew it the first time I met Clark over seven years ago. I knew it
every day he worked by my side for five years before he took bought me out. And
I knew it undoubtedly by a very simple act that touched me deeply a few weeks
ago when I went back to Ithaca, New York, to celebrate with Codey Noel and
Clark the opening of their newest location: Uncle Marty's Downtown.
When I sold the business, I turned over my cardboard office
(seriously, my office was made out of cardboard). I cleaned out my personal
effects, set up all the files Clark and Codey Noel would need, put up pictures
of us together in frames (because narcissism has never been difficult for me),
wrote notes, left books I thought would be helpful, and emptied the executive
mini-fridge for them to use. I even turned over my coveted "retirement
fund" jar that I had kept on my shelf for over a decade. After all, I did
have a retirement party on the eve of the sale!
But what I didn't prepare or clean in that beautifully-made
cardboard office was the floor underneath the flood risers that my desk and
chair sat on. That seemed a little much. Besides, I knew Codey Noel and Clark
would be making the business their own and likely would be changing that up
soon.
When I went back for the October 1st soft opening of Uncle
Marty's Downtown, I stopped by the original Uncle Marty's Collegetown location
and saw tons of awesome changes. The cardboard office is indeed gone, the
mailboxes have been moved, the counter has been zhuzhed, the box stacks have
been redone and reshelved, and so much more! It's amazing and I am so happy to
see how much they've kept pivoting, adapting, and growing.
But you wanna know what the most impressive thing was? Right
after greeting me, Clark handed me 15 cents—a nickle and a dime he had found on
the floor when they took down the cardboard office and cleaned under the flood
risers. Can you even imagine!? 15 cents! Clark found and kept 15 cents, storing
it safely until the next time he saw me, figuring it must have fallen out of my
retirement fund. I was moved beyond belief. That, right there, showed once
again, undoubtedly, how honest he is and how we had truly made the right move
in the business sale.
At the soft opening of Uncle Marty's Downtown later in the
day, I continued to be impressed over and over again. The new shop is three
times the size of the original Collegetown flagship location. It has a
palletized freight wing, a huge printing and packing area, gorgeous new
mailboxes, a humidity-controlled room dedicated to art and paper storage (they
do a ton of artwork shipping), and so much more. On soft opening day one it was
very much still in the buildout and preparations phase, but I'll be back for
the official grand opening and ribbon cutting on November 17th and can't wait
to see all of the new signage, fixtures, retail, and so much more. (Stay tuned
to my Instagram @askunclemarty and theirs @unclemartysoffice for photos of the
new space after the 17th!)
I got to meet so many new team members on my visit that I
hadn't met before. I got to see how they've totally changed systems and
automated much more than I ever thought possible. I saw how they've been
training new hires to be specialized because, as Clark put it, "We've
gotten too big for everyone to be a generalist, so we've had to introduce
specialized roles."
I heard all about their planned third location, Uncle
Marty's South Hill, that is already in the works to hopefully open up in 2026.
And I basically spent the day in awe—awe at all of the incredible progress
they've made, awe the brilliant rebrand from "Uncle Marty's Shipping
Office" simply to "Uncle Marty's" with the tagline
"Printing, Shipping, Storage, & More," awe at the community's
incredible response to their growth, and, above all, awe at the integrity with
which they've made each step, which is their secret to success and what will
make them continue to thrive, thrive, thrive.
15 cents will not make or break a retirement. But the
quality of a conscience that saves 15 cents because they know it belongs to
someone else is what will make or break a career and a life worth living. I am
so proud of Clark and Codey Noel for all they've done and built, but above all
for the moral compasses by which their lives are guided.
Onward!
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