蜜雪兒‧歐巴馬在暢銷書《成為這樣的我》坦然寫道「我痛恨做律師」，她坦承辭掉過去奮鬥努力的職業，不是沒有過痛苦掙扎，但勵志在這裡不是焦點，更引人共鳴的是蜜雪兒藉由講述自身經驗，講出大家說不出口的心聲。
美國前第一夫人，蜜雪兒．歐巴馬在離開白宮後，開始著作回憶錄《成為這樣的我 Becoming》，書籍出版後，成為2018年Amazon暢銷書第一名。而蜜雪兒獨立又現代的女性形象，讓她成為激勵人心的女性楷模，2009年曾入選Barbara Walters'最有魅力名人代表。
蜜雪兒．歐巴馬致力提倡女性的受教權及健康觀念的普及，為了將理念化作實際行動，蜜雪兒在白宮建立50年來第一座菜園，也走訪世界各國宣導女性教育，並創立公眾聯盟（Public Allies）芝加哥分會，培育年輕人投入公共服務事業。
除了一流的演講魅力，蜜雪兒的時尚品味也常為時尚雜誌津津樂道，她經常混搭昂貴與平價服飾作為平日穿著，並在重要場合穿上新移民和新銳設計師所設計的禮服，表達出她自己對設計的支持與親民的作風。
“When they go low, we go high.”
蜜雪兒曾在2016年民主黨全國代表大會上，面對川普頻頻公開做出攻擊女性的言論時，蜜雪兒挺身捍衛她心中的女性價值，並喊出往後流傳為經典的口號：「當別人低劣攻擊，我們要高尚回應。」
2018年12月26號歐普拉與蜜雪兒的新書訪談
針對蜜雪兒在《成為這樣的我》寫道：「我痛恨做律師」，歐普拉與蜜雪兒對此進行一系列的精采對談。
Q: I was wondering for you. Your parents have invested everything. You’ve led us through everything they’ve given up and they’ve sacrificed. How did you come to that decision? Did it happen all at once, you go to work or did you start feeling it and then just one day say I hate being a lawyer?
我很驚訝，你的父母將一切投注在小孩上，而在你在書中也帶著我們看到他們所放棄及犧牲的過往。所以，你是怎麼做出這樣的決定？這樣的想法是工作後一夕之間蹦出來的嗎？還是漸漸發現這樣的想法，然後有天這句話就這樣脫口而出的？
It took a lot to get to that point to be able to say that to myself. OUT LOUD TO MYSELF because I still couldn't say it to the world. But in the book I take you on the journey of who that little girl became, which was what a lot of many hard-driving kids become, I became a box checker. I became someone who understood that there was a payoff for effort and I enjoyed that.
我耗費了許多心力才得出這個結論，才能這樣對自己承認，我指的是大聲對自己說出來，因為我仍無法向世界坦承。但在書中，我會帶你們經歷一趟轉變的歷程，那種許多勤奮小孩都會陷入的，我變成了清單狂人，那種認為努力會獲得回報，還為此自得其樂的傻瓜。
I was checking boxes and not thinking about who I was gonna be. And in the book, I talked about some of the things that made me wake up because I wasn't a swerver. I wasn't somebody that was gonna take risks. I became risk-averse. And all this talent and all this opportunity… I narrowed myself being this thing I thought I should be and it took loss. I talked about losses that I had in my life that made me think - have you ever stopped to think about who you wanted to be? And I realized that I had not, but where was I? I was sitting on the 47th floor of a high-rise office building, going over cases and writing memos. And I just landed there and it was almost like I got plucked out and I was there and I had nothing to do with it.
我當時只是不斷盲目劃掉目標清單上的項目，卻沒放遠想過我到底想成為什麼樣的人。書中會提及點醒我的契機，因為原本的我既不輕易改變決定也不願冒險，變得畏首畏尾，而忽視所有的天賦及機會。我將自己縮限在應該成為什麼的框架中，但背後是有代價，那些人生代價讓我不禁省思，我到底有沒有停下腳步，好好思考到底要成為什麼樣的人？答案是從來沒有。所以我在做些什麼？我坐在高聳辦公大樓的第47樓中，翻閱成堆的案子和奮筆疾書地寫備忘錄。我就停頓在那裡，這情形就像是我與工作的連結被拔斷了，失去我對這份工作的共鳴。
訪談中的趣事
蜜雪兒曾向自己的媽媽坦承，她根本不愛做律師，抱怨這份工作消磨了快樂與熱情，但媽媽聽完神回覆：「妳先賺錢，晚點再擔心妳快不快樂的小議題。」
I was SCARED TO DEATH! Because my mother who was not very …She didn't comment on the choices that we made. She would just like live and let live, you gonna make your choices. But there's a scene where I am really struggling with it. I finally shared with her that I'm not happy and passionate. And for the first time, my mother driving me from the airport after I was doing document production in Washington DC. And by then, I was like … I CAN'T DO THIS FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE! I can't sit in a room and look at documents. And I shared with her in the car that I'm just not happy and I don't feel my "passion". And my mother, MY UNINVOLVED LIVE-AND-LET-LIVE MOTHER said "Make the money, worry about being happy later."
我根本快嚇死了！因為我的母親不是非常 … 她從不去評價我們做出的選擇，她只會老在嘴邊掛著「管好你自己，做出你自己的選擇。」但當時的情況真的讓我很掙扎，於是我終於向我的母親傾訴，說我感受不到快樂也提不起工作的幹勁。然後，有史以來的第一次，我母親跳出了她一貫的風格，那時我剛從華盛頓特區寫完卷宗後，她開車到機場接我回程的路上，那時候，我開始抱怨，我說我沒辦法在這份工作做一輩子，我無法坐在辦公室內盯著那些文件。我將內心的感受向她傾倒出來，而我的母親，我那個不干涉、嘴中說著管好你自己的媽媽，回了這麼一句話：「妳先賺錢，晚點再擔心妳快不快樂的小議題。」
