“There so many reasons to leave and not enough reasons to stay,” said Verdugo.

Verdugo had what some may call a “dream job” in the music industry, with such perks as meeting famous singers like Bruno Mars and attending concerts for free.

But she describes her position at Bug Music, a music publishing company, as similar to a real estate agent, essentially pitching and selling music to be used in film, television shows and commercials.

Although her job lacked the creativity that Verdugo found in songwriting, it forced her to overcome her shyness and make important connections to people that would later help her in her career as a songwriter.

“To be in music,” Verdugo said, “you have to be extremely extroverted.  I learned to differentiate myself from other people and let my personality shine.”

The native Angeleno’s experience on the business side of music proved invaluable to her creative career.

“The time that she's spent working in music publishing is a major strength for her, because it has allowed her to find out the inner workings of the business,” said former co-worker Priya Perera, “and that's a major advantage for a creative person.” 

Verdugo recognized these benefits but also saw the conflict of interest in representing songwriters at her day job and being a songwriter herself.

While at her full-time job, Verdugo would write songs after work and on the weekends, leaving her little time for anything else, not even sleep.

She was frequently only getting two or three hours of sleep each night and said she felt “burnt out and unhappy” before she finally made her decision to leave her job.

Verdugo told herself, “You have no debt, no kids, none of that is holding you back. You have a nest egg of money to invest in yourself.”

She began building her nest egg while she was studying business in college, putting money from every paycheck into her savings account.

But her passion for music goes much further back than that.  Verdugo started writing parodies of songs by her favorite bands, like No Doubt and The Cardigans, when she was in the fourth grade and wrote her first original song at the age of 12.

Her father, Oscar Verdugo, a business entrepreneur himself, was not at all surprised by her decision to pursue this career path since “her love of music is very strong.”  He also said that he is confident in his daughter’s ability to achieve her dreams and goals, since she recognizes and understands the artistic and business aspects of music.

But of course, he still has some concerns, saying that the music industry can be very “hard on the soul and can sometimes leave you wondering if you really belong in it.” 

When Verdugo finally quit her job, her biggest problem was that she had too much work and overbooked herself. She described the transition into full-time songwriting as natural but said she did too much and as a result burnt out the first month.

She explained this compulsion to overschedule herself as coming out of necessity.

“You have to find ways to make money which is a worrisome thing,” she said.

Verdugo admitted that there are fewer opportunities for songwriters since television budgets are being cut and new bands are giving away music for free.

Despite the stress and worry that she experiences, her friends and family have all said that Verdugo seems happier than ever.

“It's like a weight has been lifted,” said music colleague Julia Henry. “I think she's relieved and excited to take the leap of faith and follow her dreams. Her general sense of well being has improved dramatically.”

The young songwriter seems confident about her future, because she has solid beliefs about what it takes to make it as a freelancer in music or any creative field.

“You could be a creative person, but you’ve got to have business sense.” Verdugo explained that freelancers have to look at themselves objectively and ask, “What do I have to offer that people will buy?”

For Verdugo, it is her specialty in pop music, similar to Ke$ha and Katy Perry, that has been bringing in steady work for television placements.  She has written more than 50 songs just this year, generating interest from artists on major record labels. 

At the end of the interview, Verdugo played one of her songs with lyrics perfectly expressing the positive outlook of this young songwriter.

“It’s a good day. Time to get up, dream your cares away, and feel the sunshine,” sang Verdugo, “It’s a good life.”