In August, 2004 Michelle decided to pursue a modeling career at age thirty-one. Baena came in fourth place in the Bay City Area Hawaiian Tropic contest. She sent several photos of herself to Playboy.com and was chosen be both grace the cover of and do a pictorial in the May, 2005 issue Michelle has gone on to model for Mystique, Mac & Bumble, the USA National Bikini Team, and Benchwarmer Trading Cards. she has posed for pictorials in such publications as "American Curves," "Rockstar," and "Skateboarder."