Esna was born in
Los Angeles, California and graduated from
UCLA, where she studied
jazz vocals. She started her music career by uploading
cover songs on YouTube, and moved to South Korea in 2010. Her first Korean song was the duet song "Daksal Couple" () by a Korean-American singer
Tim. In 2011, she was a contestant on the singing competition program
Superstar K3 (under her Korean name, Yoon Bitnara), and was eliminated during the rival mission. She was eventually signed to WA Entertainment (now
Rainbow Bridge World). She said she had a difficult time until she "accepted Korea as [her] home" in 2013. Their single "Is It Love?" was released in July 2013. Her first solo release in South Korea was the song "Bite My Lower Lips" for the soundtrack of the television drama
The Heirs, released in October. "Mistletoe", a Christmas collaboration with
Geeks and
Phantom, co-written by Esna, was released in December. As a songwriter, her breakthrough was the song "
Some", written for
Soyou and
Junggigo (featuring
Lil Boi of
Geeks), released in February 2014. Esna wrote the song with her agency's CEO, Kim Do-hoon, and Min Yeon-jae, Xepy, Lil Boi and Junggigo. In an interview, she said the song was "unintentionally easy to write" and was partly based on her own experiences. Most of Esna's compositions are inspired by R&B, jazz and swing, including
Wheesung and
Gummy's "Special Love" and songs written for RBW's girl group
Mamamoo. Esna was credited as a songwriter for four songs on Mamamoo's debut album
Hello and co-composed both songs on
Piano Man. In March 2015, Esna and
Seulong released the song "Destiny", for the soundtrack of the television drama ''
Hogu's Love''. It was written and produced by Esna, and was the main theme for Seulong's character in the drama. In April, Esna and Mamamoo released the collaboration single "Ahh Oop!", from Mamamoo's album
Pink Funky. The song was written by Esna, with lyrics telling men to stop using cliché pick-up lines and treat women with respect. After the song's release, Esna received derisive comments about her appearance from Korean
netizens. In April 2016, Esna became the DJ for the
Arirang Radio program
Sound K. ==Discography==