Michael Medeiros was born and raised in New York City. After receiving a degree in Psychology from the City College of New York, he worked for several years as a social worker at private agencies serving troubled children. In the 1970s, he turned his hobby and love for houseplants into a freelance business as a plant doctor and indoor gardener, and in 1977, John Lennon and Yoko Ono hired him to decorate their Dakota apartment with plants and indoor trees. The job evolved to include additional responsibilities as their archivist, in-house recordist, and personal assistant. Since his resignation from Lennono Music in 1982, Medeiros has appeared on radio and television programs to talk about his experiences, and he also contributed several feature stories to the print media, including the San Francisco Chronicle and the New York Post.