Jessica Lu

Jessica Lu was born and raised in a northwest suburb of Chicago, Illinois, to artistic parents who grew up in more practical times. Her parents are from South Korea, with her father being Chinese and Japanese, and her mother being Chinese. They speak English, Mandarin and Korean at home. Despite her father being a photographer and her mother being a singer, their immigrant status and drive for success landed them in the restaurant business when they moved to the states. Lu has been a natural performer since early childhood. At 6 years old, she started dancing, specializing in ballet, tap, and jazz, and had multiple recitals throughout the year. Seeing Kristi Yamaguchi and Michelle Kwan on television for the Olympics began her figure skating career, and she had private lessons every morning at 4am before school. She also dabbled a bit in music, with singing, piano and violin lessons. Growing up in and having her parents' restaurant as her stage with a daily rotating audience, Jessica w