Soyou was born on February 12, 1992, in Jeju Island, South Korea. Before debuting, she was a licensed hairdresser and worked in a hair salon. Soyou was known as a Cube Entertainment trainee, who originally supposed to debut as a member of 4Minute. Soyou has said that she didn't make it into the group because she was lacking in many ways and was originally supposed to be in Sohyun's place. Instead, Soyou auditioned for Starship Entertainment, singing a cover of Navi's "On The Road", after spent training time and later debuted as a member of Sistar in June 2010. The group gained significant popularity after the release of their hit single "So Cool" in 2011.