On June 28, the night her song "Over My Skin" was released, Korean American singer Tiffany Young went live on Instagram from her Los Angeles home. The 29-year-old wore a rainbow tank and pink pom-pom earrings, and looked—despite having spent half her life in Seoul, South Korea—every bit the California girl. As she thanked fans for their continued support while dancing around in her chair, Young had both the poise of an industry veteran with the exuberance of an up-and-comer on the brink of her big break.

In many ways Young is both. Stateside audiences might not know her name, but Young is a superstar in South Korea, where she spent the past decade with popular K-pop group Girls' Generation. Now she's setting off on her own and starting fresh in the United States. "I feel like I'm living out my dreams again," Young tells Glamour. "It's an amazing feeling."

It's a bold move: Young has loyal fans supporting her move, but she's still a new artist to the U.S. And K-pop doesn't have the best track record when it comes to crossovers. Take BoA and CL, both A-listers in South Korea who struggled to make waves in mainstream western markets. Wonder Girls toured with the Jonas Brothers in 2009 and their English version of “Nobody” made a small splash on the charts, but the group’s follow-up collaboration with Akon, “Like Money,” fell flat and put an abrupt halt to their English-language album. Even Young’s group, Girls’ Generation, tried an English version of their song “The Boys” that failed to make an impact. Until BTS's recent breakthrough, Psy and his "Gangnam Style"—for better or worse—was the name most often associated with the genre.

But Young's background is different—and may just be the thing to help her break through. Born and raised in California, the singer was first scouted as a teenager after singing Mariah Carey's "Hero" and Christina Aguilera's "The Voice Within" at an audition in 2004. Having lost her mother when she was only 12, Young found comfort and release in singing ballads like Aguilera's. "‘The Voice Within’ is very intimate in talking to your inner younger self,” Young explains. “It just really spoke to me in a way nothing else had. That’s when I realized music was definitely magical for me.”

SM Entertainment, one of K-pop's biggest agencies, took notice of the young singer; at age 15 she moved to Seoul on her own. Away from her family in a new country, Young grew up fast. Navigating the business at a young age, she learned to be assertive and make her own decisions. "There were parent meetings, so I'd be the one in there because my family's all here [in America]," Young says. "The whole time in Korea really helped me become independent and have opinions."