15 Cents

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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Marty Johnson is the Communication and Vision Lead at AYM High Consultants, a columnist, and an editor. In 2023, he sold his popular shipping, storage, and printing business, Uncle Marty’s, and retired from shopkeeper life in order to focus on writing and coaching. Subscribe to his free newsletter and read more at askunclemarty.com; follow him on socials @askunclemarty.