Born as Michelle Valentina Jordan in Flint, Michigan, she attended the Weist Barron Commercial School in Detroit, Michigan before she moved to Los Angeles where she attended the Inner City Cultural Center for Performing Arts. Among her earlier acting work are guest roles in episodes of In the Heat of the Night (1991, with Raymond Forchion and Bill Zuckert), Out All Night (1992), Days of Our Lives (1993, with Renée Jones, Tory Christopher, and Catherine MacNeal), General Hospital, Diagnosis Murder (1994, with Kerrie Keane, Brian McNamara, Jimmie F. Skaggs, and Lindsey Haun), and Silk Stalkings (1995, with Mitchell Ryan and Charlie Brill) as well as the drama Poetic Justice (1993, with Rico Bueno, John Cothran, Jr., Clifton Collins, Jr., Lori Petty, and Denney Pierce) and the comedy House Pa