This 25-year-old brings in $245,000 a year with her side hustle: ‘Consistent actions compound over time’

Gen Zer Lillian Zhang isn’t afraid of hard work.

The 25-year-old says that she works 60 to 70 hours a week, balancing a full-time job at a big technology company and working on her side hustle as a social media influencer. Today, she has over 260,000 followers across her various social media platforms where she posts career and personal finance content.

Her social media side hustle alone brought in about $245,000 last year, according to documents reviewed by CNBC Make It. This income came from different sources such as sponsorships and user-generated content.

There is one popular financial concept that has helped her redefine how she thinks about hard work — compounding. Similar to how investments can grow over time through compound interest, being consistent in your actions can also lead to an outsized return in life, Zhang told CNBC Make It.

Having the discipline to work on her content every day on top of having a full-time job was key to her success in building a following and turning her side hustle into a six-figure business, she said.