Shaquille O’Neal’s All-Star Twitter Coach

Amy Jo Martin makes men—grown men, tough men, professional athlete men—do incredibly stupid things. She got Shaquille O’Neal to pose as a living statue for an hour in Harvard Square while fans took photos. She got UFC President Dana White to tweet his cell-phone number so fans could talk to him about an upcoming fight. She got golfer Bubba Watson to post a video of himself hitting a ball from inside his house, over his pool, and into a bucket before jumping in the water fully clothed—just to persuade Ellen DeGeneres to book him on her show. It’s less like she’s a public relations professional than a fraternity recruitment officer.

Martin, 32, is the kind of person male athletes listen to. She’s energetic, pretty, and self-assured; the two least surprising things about her are that she was a cheerleader in high school and went to Arizona State. For a person who seems to be online constantly, she’s out a lot; she’s already visited more than 80 cities this year, often to attend events with clients and point out stuff they should tweet. That’s her job: professional Twitter coach. As frivolous as that sounds, there is a real, urgent, and high-paying demand for her services. It turns out athletes need a lot more help with their writing than they do hitting golf balls and making free throws.