Born in Yorkshire with the name Mandy Setters, she spent the majority of her childhood living in rural parts of England. Wanderlust came to her from a very early age, and compounded with her natural curiosity to create a strong interest in travelling and learning about Asia. From as young as her first year of secondary school, she recalls browsing through piles of donated books at the village charity shop, and counting out her pennies on the counter. Coming home with everything from Chinese historical fiction to Japanese bento cookbooks and North Korean defector autobiographies. She was especially eager for creative material like novels or artbooks – as she herself was gifted in the arts. 

In her late teens, she attended The University of Sheffield’s School of East Asian Studies and graduated with a dual-languages degree In Korean and Japanese. Moving to by herself Korea in 2020.

She decided to make her dreams and hobbies into her new career after quitting her corporate job due to a serious incident of abuse and harassment. By the next month, she was learning cover dances, and started vocal lessons before the end of that very year.