This week's video was sponsored by Fidelity investments.

After deciding to leave my low paying journalism job, I got a request for an interview right away from a small agency just outside of Toronto. According to the post, I'd be writing ad copy for clients, mostly in video formats.

When I met the founder, I seemed to impress him, but he didn't impress me. It's not that he felt sketchy, but the environment felt off. He was super enthusiastic, but seemed very stuck on the company's identity and culture, and he was enamored with the idea of becoming an influencer and thought leader.

Basically, I got a phony baloney vibe. I was ready to reject any potential offer until it came in at $42,000 Canadian, or $31,000 USD-- 40% more than what I'd been making. I felt like a millionaire.

My first day was confusing. The founder revealed that he wanted me to focus less on scripts and more on blogging, which wasn't the job description. The blog would serve to communicate the company's-- his-- values to be an industry disruptor.

I hated blogging, and had been looking forward to learning copywriting. But it turns out-- he didn't mention this during the interviews-- that the company had a part-time writer who worked remotely and didn't want to give up writing the scripts. By the third day, I woke up with a dark cloud over me.

I realized that I'd made a huge mistake. The work was uninteresting and unchallenging. I was the only woman in the office, and by far the youngest, and the guys really didn't care for me.

Also, the founder was always looking to debate me on issues like feminism. Working hard and being nice didn't seem to matter. I knew I had to quit, but how could I pull that off?

Two years at a low salary-- at least in Toronto-- and semi-significant student debt didn't give much of a safety net, especially not a big enough one to quit my job with no way of knowing when I'd get a new one. I wasn't an accountant or an engineer. I had an English degree and two years of experience at a local magazine.

Jobs in my field didn't grow on trees, and I'd just pulled myself out of the industry. I knew two things. One, I had to find something else, fast.

Two, I had to do it while I was still working there. I pulled it off in seven months. Here's how.

Number one-- I side-hustled for my sanity. I'd taught dance on and off since high school, and I found a gig one night a week at a studio a few blocks away from the agency. Three hours per week at $36 per hour was more in the realm of gas money than building up a safety net, but it was less about the money.

My students and my director reminded me that just because my new co-workers didn't like me, it didn't mean no one liked me. Number two-- I freelanced like crazy. It was important to keep my journalism byline alive, so I started with pieces for my former magazine and tapped my student journalism friends for freelance opportunities.

At any given time, I was usually working on at least two pieces. Number three-- I upped my networking skills. Three months into my job, I met with a publisher about a news editor job for a publication covering the marketing industry.

I thought I'd be ideal with my history and firsthand work in an agency. But when I didn't get it, I asked for her feedback. The job turned out to be more senior than I was ready for, so it was hard to feel too defeated.

I stayed in touch with her and pitched her a few freelance pieces. Networking and professional meetings had never been easy for me, so this resulted in more personal growth than ever. Number four-- I established a pattern for working from home.

My job allowed working from home on occasion, and some of the guys had regular home days. So I realized that it would be smart to establish semi-regular days in order to accommodate for interviews. I worked from home about twice a month and usually timed it on days when I would actually reasonably benefit from it, like when I needed to let our superintendent in, so that I wouldn't use up all my excuses.

This actually did help me learn to focus more when working from home, so I don't totally dread it now. Number five-- I refreshed my skills. I started learning to code on Code Academy, since coding was increasingly in demand for journalists.

I took a statistics and economics course on Coursera, and also started brushing up on my French, Spanish, and German on Duolingo. Anything to pad my resume helped, and it also gave me something to have fun with on lunch hours. All of those skills have come in handy at my new job, so I was onto something.

Number six-- I learned to embrace my support network. I started using my teaching money to fund the occasional counseling session, but I also spent more time with my family. They were the only ones I could be open with about how much I hated my job, and they offered unconditional reassurance.

My dad had dealt with sudden job loss when I was in high school. I secured a new job seven months in. In fact, the publisher I'd met with months before asked me to come interview for a few less senior positions.

She remarked when we met how different my resume and mindset were, which I owed to my networking and skill building. When I got the job, even though it was challenging, I felt like I could relax for the first time in months. I didn't have to spend every minute of every day trying to find a backup.

My old boss was upset when I quit, especially when I told him I didn't feel the job was right for me. I understood he took me disliking my experience as me disliking him. Today I am the web editor for that industry magazine he regularly reads.

There's occasional communication, but I don't think he's gotten over the idea that I used the job as a stepping stone to somewhere else-- that's his prerogative. All I know is this-- you can't let yourself feel guilty for going after what you want and need out of life. You can't allow yourself to look at your misery and think, I deserve this.

The second you start doing that, you've already lost. As I mentioned, this video is sponsored by Fidelity investments. They are here to help you reach your savings goals.

And if you're looking for an easy way to finally start investing what you save, check out Fidelity.