A Busan native, Kim Seul-Gi enjoyed making people laugh from an early age. According to an interview, during her third year of high school, she started to prepare for a career of professional acting, to overcome a broken heart. She eventually attended the Seoul Institute of the Arts, a leading university for arts and entertainment in South Korea. In 2011, she participated in a 30th anniversary memorial play on a college society called Venture to Meet (만남의 시도), with Jang Jin, a well-known film Director. Months later in mid-2011, when Jang Jin was looking for cast members for the live comic variety show called SNL Korea, he recruited Kim as a cast member. While gaining support on this experimental live programme consistently, her popularity significantly increased, especially in the latter half of 2012.