Your support staff isn’t ‘help’—they’re a part of the nervous system of your business
The generational and systemic unraveling of "support work".
Mariah Mueller
Oct 31, 2025
For years my mentality around work was “I’ll learn anything new, I just need experience to prove my worth”. And then 15 years later (because didn’t we all start working when we were 14?) I am finally letting that shit go. I built my career saying yes. Yes, I can learn that. Yes, I can manage that. Yes, I’ll figure it out. Adaptability is wildly valuable!! But my strategy was people pleasing. And the cost of adapting in order to keep up with the ever-changing needs of other people? Chronic over-functioning that I called “professionalism” that has capped my income at $25/hr.
The industry is fullllll of people who have accepted that being paid (and paying) $17-$25/hr for admin/support work is fine!!!! That is quite literally the industry standard. And what do we all feel in our bones about what we call “livable wages” these days? NO THEY ARE NOT. So why do we accept that? Obviously the answer to that is LONG but essentially when you set “hustle culture/boss babe era,” and “how to scale fast” as the standard undercurrent for how to “make it” in business, we set the expectation that in order to be a business owner you have to leave humanity behind. We tell operational experts and assistants that $17–$25/hour is “good money” as if the people holding the most sacred nooks and crannies of our business together (usually at all hours of the day) should be grateful to be invited to the table at all.
Don’t get me wrong, I am a lifelong learner. We’re never done learning new things in this age of AI, systemization of literally everything and technology taking over paired with neuroscience. We know knowledge is POWER. But when I am reminded of that phrase that I’ve been holding onto for 15 years - “to prove my worth” - it’s no wonder this has felt so comfortable in my body for so long.
I live in a house with 4 generations: my grandparents, my mom, my husband and I, and our two kids. And guess what? My grandma has held onto the story that she needs to prove her worth for 87 years. Her “I’m sorry I didn’t do the dishes, let me help you with the baby, I can’t do anything right, I’m always in the way, I’m so stupid I can’t remember anything” is the internal belief system that she will die with. Read that again. And my mom? She has done a fair share of work to witness her mother and not repeat those narratives, but when you live inside of the bubble, it can be hard to remember you didn’t create it and aren’t stuck inside of it.
I know you are seeing what I’m seeing. The compulsion to “prove my worth” is baked into lineages, family systems, and it’s the foundation of capitalism and social injustice in this country. We glorify, celebrate and PROFIT OFF OF people believing their worth is in the hands of someone else to see their value?!! Until we don’t.
One day, I quite literally just decided that I’m done (a story for another time). I’m letting that old story rest and I’m getting REALLY uncomfortable out in the unknown. I started this business because I had a vision to create a company that leads a new paradigm of business. Which we’re already seeing proof of all around us when we want to go looking for it!!! This is an active and alive movement full of good people becoming wealthy, sharing wealth, giving money away — NOT at the expense of other people.
I stopped charging for time and started charging for the transformation that I deliver and the energy I share to get there. I stopped trying to prove that I could do everything and set the expectation that my peace, my family, my safety - is non-negotiable.
Because hellllllooooo you crazy beautiful, wickedly wise, playful, fun, creative, WHOLE-as-you-are beings…Worth isn’t proven!! It’s inherent. And we are here to remember that.
And our businesses “success”? It doesn’t feel easeful and fun when we over-deliver; ease arrives because we’re regulated, well-resourced, and supported by people who are, too. The reciprocity part is KEY.
So hey - Feral Operations isn’t about “fixing the system” or “let’s talk about how to scale your business fast”. It’s about remembering that business and humanity are not separate. Feral does not equal chaos, it’s intentional liberation. When we value and trust ourselves, let ourselves be free from the cage of standards set by capitalism, and reimagine the way we exist in business - we cut systemic generational spirals that have been keeping oppressive stories (and realities) alive for lifetimes.
So, welcome to my world. If you’re a human who runs a business and you’re craving admin/technical/strategic support from someone who deeply values your liberation…I invite you in to Sacred Ops Studio!!
Here’s how you can work with me: https://www.sacredopsstudio.com/ourpackages
More to come from me here, friends. Thanks for witnessing me as I share more.
