There’s something special about a group where the some of the members openly look up to the one who built the foundation. That’s exactly the dynamic inside Fly With Me (FWM) — the Korean dance and performance group where members Lena, Hai, and Ellie have all pointed to their leader, Shasa, as the person who inspires them most.
Who Is Shasa?
Shasa (born Jeon Sinae) isn’t just a member of Fly With Me — she’s one of its founders. Long before the group had a name recognized by fans around the world, Shasa was already dancing, choreographing, and building the crew that would eventually become Fly With Me. As leader, main dancer, vocalist, and center of the group, she’s the person whose fingerprints are on nearly every era of the group’s history.
She’s known among members and fans as a hard worker with a genuine love for hip-hop and dance culture, someone who trained at Dong-A University and Beniel Arts High School before dedicating herself fully to performance. Beyond the group, she’s also built a following as a live streamer and model, but it’s her role inside Fly With Me — as the steady hand guiding new members — that seems to have left the biggest impression on the people who’ve joined after her.
Why Lena, Hai, and Ellie Look Up to Shasa?
HAI
LENA
ELLIE
For members who joined years after the group’s earliest days, having a leader like Shasa still around means something different than just following orders — it means learning from someone who’s actually lived the journey from the ground up. She was there when the group was just a small dance crew rehearsing in modest studios, and she was still there when the group later found itself performing on massive stages. That kind of longevity naturally makes her a role model rather than just a senior member.
For members like Hai — who has been part of the group’s story since close to the very beginning — Shasa isn’t just a leader on paper, she’s someone who has weathered the same ups and downs of the group directly alongside her. For newer members like Lena and Ellie, who joined years after the group’s 2018 debut, Shasa represents proof that dedication and consistency can carry someone through years of change, lineup shifts, and industry pressure without losing their footing.
It’s easy to see why that resonates. In a group that has gone through so many transitions — members leaving, new ones joining, sub-units forming — Shasa has remained a constant. That stability is rare, and it’s the kind of thing that turns a “leader” into a genuine role model.
How It All Started
Fly With Me’s story doesn’t begin with a big debut stage — it begins much earlier and much smaller.
The group traces its roots back to 2008, when it started as a hip-hop dance crew based in Busan, South Korea. The original vision was simple: bring more hip-hop energy and street dance culture into the Korean performance scene. Shasa was there from the start, alongside early members Hai and JeJe, laying the groundwork long before the group had any official releases.
It wasn’t until a decade later, on June 27, 2018, that Fly With Me officially debuted as a group with their first digital single, “Your Face.” Just before that release, the group had already made an impression by performing alongside YG Entertainment artists at Tokyo Dome — a massive moment for a group that had started out dancing in small studios. That same year, they were honored with the Minister of Health and Welfare Award, a recognition of how far they’d come since 2008.
From there, the lineup evolved constantly. Members came and went throughout the years, but new energy kept arriving — Daya and Eve joined in 2021, followed by Lena and Ellie in 2022, and eventually Yuki in 2023. Each new member added something different to the group, but they all joined a foundation that Shasa had been building since the very beginning.
The Bigger Picture
What makes this kind of role-model relationship interesting is that it isn’t manufactured — it comes from shared history. Shasa didn’t step into a leadership role after the group became successful; she helped create the group when it was nothing more than a shared passion for dance. For members like Lena, Hai, and Ellie, watching someone go from dancing in a small Busan studio to leading a group that’s performed on international stages is the kind of story that naturally inspires admiration.
It’s a reminder that behind every “leader” title, there’s usually a much longer story of persistence — and sometimes, that story is exactly what makes someone a role model to the people who join later.
