Michileen Martin has been promoted from Team Editor to Deputy Editor, pushing the GIANT FREAKIN ROBOT team further into the future.

For Mick this job is his passion, “All I’ve ever wanted to do professionally is write.” For two years prior to accepting Walk Big CEO Josh Tyler’s invitation to join GIANT FREAKIN ROBOT, writing professionally is what Mick had been doing.

“I had been working full time as a freelance writer for two years when I saw an ad from GIANT FREAKIN ROBOT on LinkedIn. I was just looking for more freelance work and I remember thinking it was worth giving GFR a shot for the name if nothing else.” It only took a few samples of his work to convince Josh to bring Mick on as a freelancer. From there, Mick proved his worth, moving to a part-time staff writer, a full-time staff writer, and eventually a GFR Team Editor. He can now add Deputy Editor to his list of Walk Big accomplishments.

“Mick had an enthusiasm for a lot of our content that made him stand out among other writers,” says Walk Big’s Chief Content Officer, Drew Dietsch. “He was eager to contribute in multiple ways from an early stage in his time with us, and that eager nature made him someone worth taking an interest in. Clearly, that’s paid off.”

But getting his writing career started, as Mick puts it, “took me a ridiculous amount of time to actually get around to doing it.” Like the many writers who have found a nice home with any of Walk Big’s entities – GIANT FREAKIN ROBOT, TELL ME BEST, and Go2Tutors – Mick had a full-time career before going all-in with his writing. “I had a very stable and secure job with New York State for six years before I started doing a little freelance writing on the side in 2018. By 2019, I left New York State for good and wrote full time.” Mick claims that “getting a taste of professional writing ruined my chances of doing anything else. I was spending most of my time at NYS writing about Marvel movies and Star Trek anyway.”

In Mick’s new role as GFR’s Deputy Editor, he’ll be working with their writers and editing their stories. But he’ll also be “constantly scouring the web to try to find new stories to cover.” And he’ll be the perfect pitchman for GFR by promoting the site through social media. The one thing he won’t be giving up is writing. “I’d say about 80% of my job is writing.”

The heart and soul of Walk Big is its writers. Dedication to their craft has been key in building GIANT FREAKIN ROBOT to the powerhouse it now is. The beauty of the Walk Big writers, as Mick is fully aware, is how they can turn a phrase. But what also makes Walk Big’s stable of writers an interesting group, as Mick knows, is that they all come from different walks of life to offer different perspectives. You would think that having writers scattered across not only the country, but the globe as well, would present some scheduling issues, but Mick hasn’t really seen many.

“Really, from what I’ve seen the only consistent complication – if you can even call it that – is remembering to include the time zone when communicating with a writer.” That doesn’t seem too bad. Except, “I had an interesting complication when I first interviewed with Drew and Josh.”

“If I remember correctly, they told me they were going to interview me at around 10:30 am. They wrote in the e-mail that this was 10:30 am PST, but I forgot, and I live in upstate NY. So, from around 10:30 am to 10:50 am I was sitting at my computer and thinking, “Wow, do these guys just not like me or what?” I figured it out eventually though.”

You may have noticed that Mick can be quick with his wit. He loves to keep things light “around the office.”. “Humor is often a great way to deal with the stresses of day-to-day work, and I know that Mick’s jovial nature is something that brings a good deal of levity to the GIANT FREAKIN ROBOT team,” says Drew. But Drew also offers Mick a lighthearted warning as well. “As long as he doesn’t steal any of my well-timed GIF reactions in our team chat (I’m partial to the “panda smashing a keyboard” one), I’m willing to call him funny.”

Mick does have his serious side, especially when talking about writers and the nature of GFR. “You have to be willing to write and you have to be willing to tackle any subject — not just your favorites,” says Mick. “I’m a big nerd and love writing about Marvel, Star Trek, Star Wars, etc. But if I get assigned a story on a movie being made about the origin of a Cheetos flavor or something to do with scientists saying human beings could one day live to be 130 years old, or how JLo posted a video of herself putting on makeup after a workout, then I need to get those done.”

To Mick, this isn’t a “potential writer beware” but instead something he feels is a major plus for an aspiring writer. “Honestly that’s been perhaps the most rewarding thing about working for GFR. I have learned so much working here. Did I need to know it all? Maybe not. Could’ve done without knowing that Megan Fox and MGK drink each other’s blood. But still, the old cliché of “I learn something new every day” is 100% true working for GFR.”

So, what would he tell his younger self, or any writer for that matter, looking to join the GFR team? “I guess if I have any advice to writers, it’s that you shouldn’t be intimidated by any assignment. You don’t know anything about The Walking Dead or Doctor Who or Kate Beckinsale and you have to write a story about one of those things? You’ll learn. The information is out there. No one’s ever accused the Internet of having not enough information.”

This is why Mick finds himself in his new position. He understands writers. He also has an eye for the GFR future. “I’d love to see us expand and keep getting more great writers. And the more people start learning our name, the better.” And then there is that trademark humor Mick is known for. “I mean, it stands for GIANT FREAKIN ROBOT, so if anyone starts a Giant Freakin Lizard website I hope we tear ‘em a new one.” Congrats, Mick, on becoming GFRs new Deputy Editor!