When should I move on?

The other day, I made my occasional visit to one of my first fashion mentors that I worked for and it inspired me to keep up with the blog that I have abandoned this many months. I wish I heard of Suze Orman years ago. When you are in fashion you have to move on or you die. Although my leaves have been wilted for a long time I am not ready to die yet.

LOYALTY VS LIVING...
Anyone who knows me knows that I have stayed in some relationships with the pretext of "loyalty" all my life. It did not matter when it was a dead marriage, dead friendship, or dead career. I always stuck around telling myself that somehow if I stuck around long enough things will start to get good. That HAS happened once or twice, but more often than not, I have been left with the scissors in my hand and nothing to cut. It's funny, I am getting more out of my short accociation with the PSC than all the years that I have know my mentor. So I have come up with a personal guideline to know when to move on or at least make sure my ducks are in a row....

1- Know what YOUR goals are. Are you a worker or a leader? Do you want to be a top designer or couturier in the company you are with or do you want to start your own label? Does the person or company you are with have anything to teach you based on where you want to go?
Know who YOU are professionally.
I can't tell you how many times I stayed with a company that have NOTHING to do with my chosen path. Not only did I stay, but I jumped through hoops and I did not even really want to be there.
2- Examine if the company / person meets YOUR GOALS.
I have been in situations where although the designer made many accomplishments they were both unwilling and incapable of letting me know how to acheive even part of what they achieved. Also, their sewing techniques did not match the level I couture I wanted to learn.
3- If you offer ideas, are you at least listened to? If you are not respected you NEVER WILL BE. This question requires you to have a sixth sense. Sometimes the designer does not listen to you because they are threatened by you , but if they are the best you might stick around for a minute since it will be good on your resume. Sometimes they respect you but they are trying to seem like a jerk to uphold some image. Regardless, I must repeat. If a person (parents not included) does not respect you, they NEVER WILL. Not really...
In my situation, I was naive about how much I was worth professionally. Therefore it was easy to take advantage.
4- Are people around you being promoted and you are being passed over? Sometimes your boss wants to keep you in your "place".
With me, there were two jobs I had where the boss loved that I was willing to do extra for them so they never recommended me for the better situations and were surprised when I quit.
5- Is the company bad for your health? Are you gaining weight, losing hair, losing money, etc. because you are working for this company? Prestige means nothing if you are not able to enjoy it.
I had a situation where I let a designer pay me later since I felt they were good for it. Big mistake . After all was said and done I wound up getting goods in lieu of cash. In that situation, not only was my money wasted. My time was wasted. Even if they HAD paid me , it would have been considerably less than if I did my own thing.

THIS IS NOT WORKING FOR ME , NOW WHAT?

1-If you are getting paid, start saving your money. If you are fired or have to quit before you are ready you need to be able to pay your bills.
2-Test the waters. Ask for the raise or promotion of training that you want from the company you are dealing with. Maybe they did not realize what you wanted.
3- Be professional. Many companies in the same industry know of each other. Give two weeks or more notice and write a respectful exit letter. Do not burn bridges.
4- Do a little scouting. Start reading the trade magazines and periodicals , find out who is doing what. Make friends in the industry. DO NOT confirm that you are unhappy until you know who you are talking to.
5- Hold your head high. Just because you were shafted at one place does not mean that you are not going to be on the top SOMEDAY. Brush the dust off and keep moving.

HERE IS THE THING:

You are your most valuable asset and you have to take care of yourself. No apologies, No regrets. No lying to yourself - even if you lie to others to get ahead.