A few weeks after making her solo debut with her first mini-album OPEN (which was bannered by the title track “Door,”) Kwon Eunbi appeared on the cover of Pilates S magazine.

In the cover story, the former IZ*ONE leader-turned-soloist opened up about how it feels to have the spotlight all to herself.

“Time flew by so fast while I was preparing the album and stage,” Eunbi said. “It’s been over two weeks since I started promoting by myself, and I finally feel more relaxed. During my first week of promotions, I felt a little burdened because I had to fill the stage without anyone else by my side. But of course, it still feels somewhat awkward to be interviewed or stand onstage alone.”

She may have had to make the rounds of music shows and such alone, but once she stepped offstage, her IZ*ONE sisters were there for her—all thanks to the wonders of instant messaging.

“Thankfully, everyone contacted me through KakaoTalk after the stages. They said things like, ‘You’re doing very well onstage’ or ‘You’re so pretty.’ I also asked the members, ‘Am I really doing well? Was I OK?’ But they said, ‘You’re doing well, so you don’t have to be worried.’ Honestly, hearing that gave me a lot of strength and made my heart soft.”

Eunbi admitted that the pressure she felt to make a splash with her solo debut didn’t come from others. All of it came from within. She was hard on herself because there were certain things she wanted to achieve with OPEN and “Door.”

“Because the people around me knew this was my first album, no one put pressure on me. I just agonized over everything I had to deal with myself many times. I really wanted to let the public know more about who Kwon Eunbi really is. I wanted them to sing along to my songs a lot.”

Eunbi enjoyed a certain degree of creative control on OPEN. She had a hand in writing, composing, and arranging its title track plus one B-side, the plaintive ballad “Rain.” She says she prefers writing music to writing lyrics.

“Sometimes the melody comes out easily. When that happens, I feel very thrilled. But when I have writer’s block, all the composers who work with me give me direction. They say things like, ‘It seems this is better than that,’ so I’m constantly learning. That’s why these days, I feel like making music is just as fun as—no, even more fun than—dancing.”

Eunbi also talked about looking up to BoA and IU. She said the different charisma, energy, and experience they show onstage are really great. She also revealed that one of her favorite songs is by a Japanese band named One OK Rock. But when she’s down, she doesn’t listen to music. She turns to something else entirely: food.

“When I listen to ‘Wasted Nights’ by One OK Rock, I feel so refreshed. Its sound is clear, cool, and the melody builds up gradually, which seems to increase my heart rate. It’s also touching because the lyrics give you the strength to welcome tomorrow, so I hope others will listen to it. But when I feel sad and stressed, I usually listen to or look for artists who make emotional music, like Baek Yerin and Sigrid. But I don’t usually feel like that. When I do, I eat. I don’t really have a concept of dieting—I eat when I want to eat, and I don't eat when I don't want to.”

Eunbi said that she does her best to put on a brave face when things get tough. “When I’m stressed, I try not to show it. At the time of my group activities, I was the leader and the oldest member. As I reflect on what it means to be an adult, I think I endured all the stressful moments.”

She may have been the oldest in her former group, but at home, she was the maknae. You would think that having an older brother would make it somewhat difficult for her to play the role of unnie to the other girls in IZ*ONE, but Eunbi says that wasn’t the case at all.

“The members were so nice. They got along really well without any major problems. Whenever I’d ask them, ‘What about this? Should we do it like this?’ They’d say ‘OK’ and follow me really well. They rarely fought. They cared for and understood each other.”

It’s receiving that caring and understanding from 11 other girls that she misses most now that she’s flying solo. Before IZ*ONE disbanded, Eunbi could always rely on the other girls to boost her confidence before they took the stage. Now she has to do it herself. Thankfully, she has a ritual that she does before every performance.

“Kwon Eunbi isn’t someone who can do anything. She’s not very confident, so she tries to cheer herself up and strengthen her mind. I tell myself, ‘I can do this. I can do this. I can do this. I'm Kwon Eunbi. I'm the best. I have to do this.’ After talking to myself like that, I take a deep breath, then go on stage,” she says.

That ritual has served Eunbi well. “Door” debuted at No. 3 on the World Digital Songs chart in the US. In Japan, OPEN debuted at No. 34 on the Oricon Albums chart. In Eunbi’s home country, OPEN entered the Gaon Album Chart at No. 8 while “Door” debuted at No. 14. What’s more, the album’s other tracks also charted on the Gaon Download Chart.

Not bad for someone who says she’s not very confident, eh?