DEAR ANNIE: I\u2019ve worked at a boutique interior design firm for four years, and until recently, I loved my job. But two months ago, the owner hired her niece, \u201cClaire,\u201d fresh out of college, with zero experience. Since then, I\u2019ve been sidelined on projects I used to lead, and Claire — who doesn\u2019t know the first thing about client management — is suddenly being introduced as a \u201crising star.\u201d<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve spent years building relationships with clients and vendors, often working late and covering when we were short-staffed. Now I\u2019m watching Claire get praise for things I quietly handled behind the scenes. When I brought it up to my boss, she said Claire brings \u201cfresh energy\u201d and that I shouldn\u2019t feel threatened.<\/p>\n
But I do feel threatened. I\u2019m starting to wonder if there\u2019s even room for me to grow here anymore, or if I\u2019m just a stepping stone for family favorites. I don\u2019t want to stick around if I\u2019m being pushed aside.<\/p>\n
How do I know if it\u2019s time to move on — or if I just need a thicker skin? — Fading Into the Wallpaper<\/p>\n
DEAR FADING: There\u2019s nothing more demoralizing than watching someone else get credit for your work.<\/p>\n
Identify some concrete asks — projects you want to lead, clients you want to work with, even salary goals — and then share your ideas with your boss. Make it clear you care about growing with the company and want to build a path forward together.<\/p>\n
This shows you\u2019re cooperative but also focused — and unwilling to sit on the sidelines. If she brushes off your asks, then you might have your answer.<\/p>\n
Send your questions for Annie Lane to dearannie@creators.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement<\/a> and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and\/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"DEAR ANNIE: I\u2019ve worked at a boutique interior design firm for four years, and until recently, I loved…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":150120,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[56],"tags":[228,226,227,229,88],"class_list":{"0":"post-150119","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-arts","9":"tag-arts-and-design","10":"tag-artsanddesign","11":"tag-design","12":"tag-entertainment"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150119","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=150119"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150119\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/150120"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=150119"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=150119"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=150119"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}