The mountainous pressure of NYC hustle culture and a sprinkle of delusion are among the ingredients Mohuya Khan said led her to become a business owner and content creator at 27.
In 2025, she earned around $130,000, and after taxes and expenses, she took home around $70,000.
Looking back, she doesn’t know if she would do it again.
This native New Yorker lives in Queens — the same borough where she was born to Bangladeshi parents — and has supported her day-to-day life through nine streams of income, all while working from her one-bedroom apartment she rents for $3,000 in Astoria, which she splits with her husband.
“Living in New York City — it’s kind of a double-edged sword,” she said. “You see, everyone, for the most part, around you hustling. You see people working multiple jobs, and obviously they’re tired, but they’re just doing it because it’s kind of the normal way of living here.”
Khan is one of the many New Yorkers featured in our Cost of the City series, which profiles people finding ways to manage the rising cost of living in one of the country’s most expensive cities.
Have you experienced the NYC hustle? Have you taken on multiple jobs or side hustles to afford life in New York City? If you’re interested in sharing your experience with a reporter, contact [email protected].
She bet on herself — and nearly burned out
As the daughter of immigrants, the hustler mindset comes included as a package deal, Khan said. Growing up, she watched her parents work every day and developed what she described as a scarcity mindset. Her dad roamed the NYC streets as a taxi driver seven days a week, 16 hours a day, and her mom always told her, “You have to work way harder than your counterparts to get where you want to go.”
Lucia Vazquez for BI
As a result, she began working at 15, learned to drive at 16, and moved out at 22, while pursuing her master’s degree. Khan earned a bachelor’s degree from Hunter College, where she later pursued graduate studies in childhood education. She covered tuition with savings and loans while working as an after-school counselor as a side job to pay her rent and other living expenses.
The transition to fashion and content creation began when Khan started posting her art during the pandemic on YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok. As her audience grew, she started watching lessons on YouTube and Skillshare to improve her drawing.
In the beginning, she said she was “running on fumes,” operating largely on the “delusion mindset” that things would work out — and she wanted to do it alone.
“I had this feeling inside me where I just had to prove to myself that I could do it without asking for any help,” she said.
Soon enough, she decided to go all in on content creation and launch her clothing brand, Labyrinthave, with Indo-Western and Bangladeshi influences.
“I don’t recommend everyone just to quit your job, and just work on your passions,” she said. “It sounds great on paper, but when you try to actually do it, and you don’t have money saved up or a stable job or income that is going to come in — it is so scary to not have that.”
When looking back on that transition period of her life, Khan felt bittersweet, reflecting on a period defined by a “toxic” mindset with no work-life boundaries.
“I’m proud of her, but I don’t know if I would do it again,” she said, referencing her past self. “It motivated me. It also really burned me out.”
Five years later, she is financially independent, debt-free, and uses part of her income to help pay her parents’ mortgage.
Lucia Vazquez for BI
Inside Khan’s nine sources of income
Khan has sustained herself over time by managing nine different sources of income in varying amounts.
Redefining the hustle without leaving New York
Now, she has found a better balance, able to separate herself from her work and find things that ground her.
“I don’t feel like I have to constantly burn myself out and overexert myself to prove anything to myself or others,” she said.
Her expenses include paying part of her parents’ mortgage and pitching in over $400 toward the telephone plan she shares with her immediate family and her aunt’s family. Her apartment utilities usually range from $50 to $210, depending on the season, and groceries for her and her husband typically cost up to to $400. Although she does have a car, for which she pays around $300 for car insurance, she leaves it at her parents’ house, so her mom can use it to get around, as Khan is accustomed to taking the subway and usually works from home.
Lucia Vazquez for BI
She does find room to splurge on some things. She spends up to $100 a week eating out with her husband, holds a basic ClassPass membership, gets massages every two months, and gets her nails done every once in a while. Adding up these lifestyle expenses, she usually spends $300 — $500 a month, with the maximum being $1,000 if she were to plan a trip.
Although she has felt the rising costs of living in the city, Khan cannot picture herself leaving and envisions raising her own family within the five boroughs.
“I’m a native New Yorker, so I’m always going to end up finding a way,” she said.
