In mid-1961, at age 17, Phillips relocated to San Francisco to live with her friend Tamar Hodel and began working as a model. She appeared in a billboard advertisement for Lucky Lager beer and in print ads for Cole brand bathing suits. Phillips quickly became immersed in San Francisco's countercultural music scene and nightlife, recalling: "Tamar and I loved going out and showing off. We had a friend, Eddie, Tamar's hairdresser, who was a flaming homosexual and proud of it. Remember that this was early for gays to be obvious. Eddie was the first I knew and loved who was blatant. He loved to do our hair and make my face up and dress me...  We didn't always have a lot of money, but I only once went to bed hungry." At a club in San Francisco in July 1961, she met John Phillips while he was touring California with his band the Journeymen, and the two began a whirlwind romance. He divorced his first wife and married Michelle on December 31, 1962, when she was 18 years old.