'1MILLION' choreographer Lia Kim opened up about her difficult past as an instructor for idol trainees.

Lia Kim is known as the co-founder and chief choreography for '1MILLION' dance studio, which is known to be behind the choreography for top K-Pop artists and a YouTube channel with 22.7 million subscribers. On the December 1st episode of tvN's 'The Moment I Became Me', she discussed the struggles in her past as a street dancer in 2007 and then as an instructor for idols.

She revealed, "When I brought up the fact that I didn't receive the payment for my lesson, they would get mad and say, 'Do I look like someone who wouldn't pay?'" Lia Kim continued, "No matter how famous I was as a street dancer, I didn't have a lot of students. I also felt burdened by the monthly rent of the practice room, so I slept there. There was a stale smell, and crickets ran around the place."

As for working with trainees from big agencies, Lia Kim said, "Trainees from big agencies asked me to eat with them, so I said I'll pay but the balance was insufficient. Then one of them would pay. That was embarrassing. There were a lot of times that I didn't even have money for the bus, so I would have to walk."

Did you know about Lia Kim's past struggles?