A single mom works as a makeup artist and NYC real estate broker. Here's how she affords life in the city.

Violetta Kruglyak, 44, is a real estate broker and makeup and hair stylist living in NYC. Marissa Alper for BI Violetta Kruglyak thrives in NYC real estate by hustling for deals in a competitive market. Originally from Ukraine, Kruglyak balances her real estate career with raising her son in NYC. Despite fluctuating income, Kruglyak stays motivated by focusing on financial growth and success. Working in NYC real estate, brokering deals for the rich and famous in one of the most desirable property markets in the world, is a "glamorous" business. Yet, for broker Violetta Kruglyak, that does not translate to a glamorous life. For her, breaking into the real estate world is defined by one word: hustle. She might work for a firm that sells luxury Manhattan townhouses — but there is a lot of behind-the-scenes work, tight budgeting, and trial and error that go into being successful in the competitive and dynamic NYC real estate business. Kruglyak, 44, originally from Odessa, Ukraine, moved to NYC in 2011 after getting married, having taught herself English while growing up. Fifteen years later, she still thinks in Russian, raises her 17-year-old son as a single mother, owns her dream sports car, and has worked her way up to become a make-up and hair stylist and a broker at luxury residential and commercial brokerage firm Nest Seekers International. Violetta Kruglyak started working in real estate in 2024 and aims to continue growing as a broker at Nest Seekers International. Marissa Alper for BI Kruglyak is one of the people Business Insider has interviewed for our Cost of the City series, where we dive into the lives of New Yorkers and the trade-offs they face to stay in one of the most expensive cities in the country. How has your experience living and affording New York City been? What challenges have you faced and how have you adapted? Talk to a reporter about your experience: reach out to mros@businessinsider.com or fill out this form so we can contact you. There have been times when Kruglyak has considered moving away from NYC, especially when she was struggling financially. In 2020, after losing her last full-time job as a beauty advisor at Nordstrom, she went into credit card debt to make ends meet. This is when she decided to pursue a career with a higher financial ceiling. After watching the first episode of "Owning Manhattan," a reality TV show that follows NYC celebrity real estate broker Ryan Serhant, she signed up for a course to get her broker's license and entered the industry in 2024. What surprised her was how long the process is: It can take two months to a year between the moment you begin a deal and finally closing it and getting a commission. This makes cash flow and income inconsistent for people in the real estate industry. "You have to run a lot to find the deal, to find those people, to find apartments," she said. "It's a lot of cold calls. It's a lot of rejection." While working in both beauty and real estate allows Kruglyak to tap into the luxurious NYC lifestyle, she does not necessarily live it. "When you watch TV, it's so glamorous and fancy and beautiful. Everyone is dressed up. But it's so much to learn if you want to be a real professional and make people trust you and do deals," she said. "You have to completely forget all your ego and what you knew, and just be a student." Working for the NYC elite: from makeup to real estate "Real estate is not only about high commissions," she said. "It's also about having that person trust you with their biggest financial life decisions." Marissa Alper for BI Throughout her time in NYC, Kruglyak built a career in cosmetics and luxury retail, working for brands and stores including Chanel, Bloomingdale's, Bergdorf Goodman, and Nordstrom. Alongside her sales work, she studied English, trained as a makeup artist, and earned an NYC tour guide license. While being a stylist and a broker are different jobs, they feed off of one thing Kruglyak knows how to manage: people and connections. "Each of my jobs and experiences brought me to this. That's why I'm so comfortable in real estate — because it's still people," she said. "You really have to be creative, think on the go, and you cannot teach that by the book." Her network of clients as a makeup and hair stylist has grown over the last 10 years, where she charges $200 for a makeup look and around $1,000 per day to help out at a photo shoot. The weekly calls and referrals she gets for makeup jobs help sustain her as she continues her main focus on growing as a broker, and some of her beauty clients have become real estate clients. "One month it can be up to $10,000, and I'm like, OK, I'm rich. Another month, it can be like hardly $4000, which is nothing and very challenging," she said. "It's scary, but at the same time, so motivating." Managing a fluctuating income requires discipline. Kruglyak saves as much as possible from each paycheck and plans months in advance. "I'm growing, so I'm not as stable financially, but I already can see it's definitely better," she said. The market has changed due to new regulations around who pays for brokers in New York City. Since the FARE Act, which banned the formerly common practice of tenants being on the hook for broker fees, took effect in June 2025, Kruglyak said it has become easier for brokers to collect their fees directly from landlords. Still, she said she has seen more rental units, especially well-priced ones, come off the market. Rents have also risen sharply from a year earlier. "Last summer, I could find a studio for like $2,600, for example. Now it's impossible. The same studio is going to be like $3,500, for the same size, in Manhattan," she said. No plan B, only success As a single mother with no extended family in the country, Kruglyak has had to get creative to make ends meet. For someone in her situation, she emphasized: "You don't have plan B — only success." She pays around $2,900 for a 2-bedroom apartment in Coney Island with an ocean view. She has converted it into a 3-bedroom apartment and sometimes rents out the extra room. Violetta Kruglyak entering her office at Nest Seekers International. Marissa Alper for BI She is still paying off the debt, but has it under control. Although she has considered moving to Manhattan, her affordable Brooklyn rent keeps her from moving elsewhere. She has invested in her dream sports car — a Mercedes — and pays around $600 a month for insurance and $750 a month for the car payment. She goes to the gym daily with her Equinox membership and pays for sensual bachata dance classes at least once a week using her $120 monthly membership. The biggest trade-off for Kruglyak is time. Focusing most of her time on her work and son, she said she feels like she doesn't have much of a personal or social life, and rarely travels. "I even lost a few friendships because I'm mostly focused on career building," she said. "If I got the choice to go to some event or someone's birthday, I probably choose to stay with my son or study something." Yet, the image of successful New Yorkers around her keeps her going. "I think some people just expect that something's supposed to happen, but the mindset should be you create something to happen," she said. "People just leave — they give up, it's tough, it's expensive, it's hard — but I'm proud that, more or less, I made it, and I feel comfortable, and my child feels comfortable. I cannot give up halfway." 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