Entrepreneur of the Year

The following article was published in the Ask Uncle Marty™ column in MBC Today Volume 28 Issue 3 on May 1, 2026:

I am so, so proud.

My heart is beaming.

I'm not a parent and don't fully know the feeling someone might have when their kid does something truly amazing, however I am indeed the world's best uncle (seriously, I have the mug to prove it) and now a soon to be thrice-over great-uncle, and also have had many "work kids" over my tenure as a business owner. And I certainly know the pride and heart-beam feelings that I get when my niblings, great-niblings, and work kids do amazing things.

One such amazing thing happened on April 29th, when my former work kid, dear friend, and mutual mentor Clark received the prestigious Entrepreneur of the Year award from the Tompkins County Chamber of Commerce.

  

Those who read my column regularly or follow me on socials (@askunclemarty) know that Clark and his wife, Codey Noel, purchased Uncle Marty's from me at the end of 2023. What they've done with the brand that still bears my name is something that both blows my mind and makes me smile...like a really, really big smile.

This power couple has built upon the foundation that this now-semi-retired founder of the business laid and have blown it up to a multi-location chain, revamped systems, added lots of amazing new print equipment, grown the storage arm of the business to a multi-warehouse and multi-vehicle operation, and, most importantly, have strengthened and grown relationships within the greater Ithaca, New York community that they both live in and serve diligently.

Clark started working with me when he was a teenager. Now, he's in his late-mid-20s, is married, and is a first-time expectant father. In fact, he owns multiple businesses and somehow manages to keep them all not only sustained, but growing...considerably!

Networking and the absolute importance of relationship-based business is something I did my best to instill in Clark when we worked together. He knew this instinctively and from being one of the wisest and most capable teenagers that I ever hired (his sister and brother, who also worked with me and started as teens, excluded, as they too are incredibly wise and capable and all-around awesome humans).

The potential I recognized in Clark has been proven now over and over, and the whole community sees it. He and Codey Noel aren't in business just to make money. Yes, that's important, but they have a greater mission: to serve.

Tompkins Weekly, a local publication in Upstate New York, quoted Clark when he outlined how the Uncle Marty's team views their role: “A big part of what we do is we take kind of a consultant role when people come in, to be able to help them find the best option for what they need,” Young said. “If you need it done right, you can come to us and we take care of it all for you.”

This is the essence of service. And service is the essence of Uncle Marty's.

I had been an active member of the Tompkins County Chamber of Commerce when I owned Uncle Marty's. It was important for me to participate, network, and build relationships. In addition to that, we were part of many other local networking organizations and committees, as well as frequent sponsors of local community events. It's so important.

In my now-role as a leadership coach, editor, columnist, and podcaster (I'm not very good at being semi-retired, staying busier than ever...but loving every minute of it and still taking time to enjoy the local beaches in Southern Delaware where I now live, and to travel as often as I can), I find myself often telling clients that it's essential that they get involved in local networking groups.

 

In fact, at AYM High Consultants, where I coach alongside my colleagues Seema and Fahim, one of the first things we tell any new client is that they must—must, must, must—join their local chamber of commerce. We get pushback from this directive every now and then, but each time a client follows through on this advice we see incredible growth in their business. Why? Because relationship-based business works! Networking works! Serving works! Sponsoring works! As Fahim often says, "Visibility leads to credibility, which leads to profitability."

I hope every young person reading this takes time to watch the video I posted on my TikTok  (@askunclemarty) on April 30th to see clips from Clark's acceptance speech. It's inspiring. You can see from it what's truly possible when you put in the work to build relationships in your community, and the visibility, credibility, and profitability that follow—always in that order, with no shortcuts. That same video will soon be posted on AYM High's YouTube channel and socials (@aymhighconsultants), as well as on my own Instagram, once the AYM High media team finishes zhuzhing it up (yes, we have our own videographer now, as well as a couple of media editors we work with!)

I hope everyone reading this article also will take a few minutes to read the Tompkins Weekly article (tompkinsweekly.com/news/tompkins-chamber-honors-businesses-and-community-leaders-56d276cb), as it really captures the essence of service that Clark and Codey Noel and their team embody, which is the key to their tremendous success.

Onward!

…

 

Marty Johnson is the Communication and Vision Lead at AYM High Consultants, a columnist, an editor, and Co-Host of the MoJo Motivation™ podcast. 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.