When Michelle Attoh co-hosted the CAN 2008 draw at the Accra International Conference Centre recently, one question that danced off the lips of those who watched the event live or on TV was ‘where has she been all this while?’.

And before the surprise of seeing her again settled, another question that popped up was ‘where did she learn to speak French like that?’.

Michelle seems to have been ‘missing in action’ for a pretty long while. In fact she has been out of public eye for close to eight years and then she bounces back and not just that but rattling French with so much finesse.

Speaking to Graphic Showbiz, at her tastefully designed office, Michelle said she’s always spoken French. “I speak French but the CAN 2008 draw was the first public event I have presented using the French language. After my ‘O’ Level in Ghana, I went to Abidjan to further my education.

I studied for my ‘A’ Level there and later moved to Paris to polish up my French accent.”

When Michelle broke into the local limelight in the 90s, the ocassion had nothing to do with French. Infact it was her performance as well as her good looks in the TV drama series Ultimate Paradise.

In the series, she played Monique Addison alongside her mother, Rama Brew (Mrs Addison) and many were those who strongly believed she would definitely step into her mother’s shoes as an actress.

Her career in showbiz seemed to have been confirmed when after the series, the cute young actress had a stint with MNET as a guest television continuity presenter. During that same period, she did a Toyota car advert and also played lead role in the film, True Colours.

And then just as she made her appearance, without warning, Michelle went out of public eye and showbiz until she co -presented the CAN draw.

“I am sure people thought I would follow in my mum’s footsteps but unfortunately that is not what I was cut out for”, she told Showbiz. “I enjoy acting but it is not my calling. I just made a slight diversion along the way.

Indeed, I have always wanted to be a lawyer but I have not had the opportunity yet. I will do that when the right time presents itself”.

Currently Michelle runs her own company, Emerge. “I decided to go into advertising and marketing and to be good at what I set out to do, I needed to focus on my company.

Going into the operations of Emerge, Michelle said the company started out as a focus media agency using direct marketing approach. “Now Emerge is into indoor advertising, wall branding, indoor communications tools, event management and integrated advertising.

Although Emerge has been in existence since 1999, one thing that helped prop the company up was when we started using ad-motions that enables high visibility impact.”

Michelle 32, an only child of her mother but has four other siblings on her father’s side grew up in Italy. She did her primary/junior school education in Italy and later moved to Ghana to continue her education at the Ghana International School and later to Labone Secondary School where she sat for her ‘O’ Level.

“Afterwards, I left for Abidjan to further my education. I did my ‘A’ Level there and later moved to Paris to polish up my French. I returned to Ghana and did courses in marketing and communications at the Ghana Institute of Journalism.

For the single mother of two, the day starts at 5 am. “ I give thanks to God and work out for about 30 minutes three times a week. I drink a glass of warm water with honey or with a dash of lemon to detox. This is something my grandfather taught me. I then get my kids ready for school and we leave home by 6.15”.

After dropping the children in school, Michelle heads for her office which is currently nestled on the fourth floor of the Ridge Towers in Accra.

“Emerge has a work force of 25. We have different departments that handle the various operations of the company. I may not directly handle a particular job but I have oversight of all the departments. I also represent the company at meetings with our various clients.

Depending on what the day brings, my day most times ends by 6.30 pm. If I make it home on time, I help the kids with their homework otherwise my mother helps out.

“I always look forward to the weekends when I go out of town to unwind. I love to read and I enjoy spending time at the beach too. In fact I love to socialise. You can call me a social butterfly. I also love to stay at home doing one thing I love very much—cooking. I am a good cook. My food is good. My food tastes good.”

Coming this far hasn’t been a bed of roses for the young single mother. Her daughter Larissa is 12 and son Tyler is 8. Michelle who believes in self worth said hard work and determination is the key to every success story.

“To all the single mothers out there especially, I will urge them to reach for their goals. The fact that there is no man in your life doesn’t mean the end of the world”.

“I appreciate what I have achieved so far. I don’t have a role model. I don’t want to be like anybody. I want to be myself of course there are certain people I respect but I don’t want to be a replica of somebody. I just want to be the best of what I already am”.