Adina Fried & Taylor Mauch
Trellis Advisory Partners
Operations • HR/People Operations • Business Strategy •
Chicago, IL | Works Remotely & In Person
About Taylor & Adina
Adina built her career working closely with small business leadership, progressing from entry-level roles to General Manager and Partner at a longstanding Chicago retail institution. Over more than a decade, she has developed deep expertise in business operations, brand strategy, team leadership, and growth management.
Taylor’s path to leadership began in retail operations and led to Director of Operations and Partner roles for two sister companies. Working directly with Founders, she specializes in strategic operations, financial leadership, and data-driven decision-making, achieving sustainable growth through cross-functional optimization.
With over 20 years of combined experience in retail operations, Adina and Taylor have learned what works and more importantly what doesn’t. With their experience supporting Founders and relieving stress from budding businesses, they are eager to help your business thrive.
Best Fit
Trellis loves partnering with passionate small business owners who have a clear vision for what they want to build, even if they aren't quite sure how to get there yet.
Their ideal clients are curious, collaborative, and open to change. They may be in the early stages of planning a new business, preparing to open their doors, navigating growth, or running an established company that has reached the point where the old way of doing things just isn't working anymore.
Trellis is especially experienced in retail and creative businesses, where strong ideas need equally strong systems behind them. Their clients aren't looking for a one-size-fits-all playbook. They're looking for experienced partners who can help them create the structure, stability, and strategy to move forward confidently.
Services
Business Operations Consulting
Fractional Operational Leadership
Human Resources
Bookkeeping
Employee Structure & Training
Standard Operating Procedures
Retail Operations
Product Curation & Recommendations
Vendor Management
Business Planning & Growth Strategy
Signature Services
Operations & Business Structure
Building the systems, workflows, policies, and operational foundations that help small businesses run more smoothly. Trellis can step in during a launch, period of growth, or operational transition to identify what's working, troubleshoot what's not, and create practical systems for moving forward.
HR & Employee Support
Helping businesses create thoughtful employee structures, policies, training processes, schedules, expectations, and procedures that support both the business and the people working within it.
Retail Strategy & Growth
Drawing on firsthand experience growing a retail business from one location into two brick-and-mortar stores with a robust ecommerce presence, Trellis helps retailers navigate everything from product recommendations and vendor relationships to customer experience, staffing, and healthy expansion.
What Makes Trellis Different
Adina and Taylor have actually done the work they're advising their clients on.
Together, they bring more than 20 years of combined experience running and growing small businesses. They have worn nearly every hat within the architecture of a retail business, from product curation and vendor management to HR, staff management, operations, customer service, e-commerce, and expansion.
That firsthand experience shapes everything about their approach. Trellis isn't interested in dropping a generic system into a business and walking away. They build bespoke structures around the business that already exists, helping owners turn their vision into something sustainable without losing what made it special in the first place.
They believe small businesses bring energy, personality, and new ideas into the world. Their work is about giving those businesses the infrastructure they need to grow, thrive, and remain part of the conversation.
Experience & Background
More than 20 years of combined small business experience
Experience growing a local retail brand from one location to two brick-and-mortar locations
Built and managed a robust ecommerce operation
Hands-on experience in product curation and vendor management
Human resources and staff management
Customer service and retail operations
Business systems and standard operating procedures
Experience guiding businesses through launches and healthy expansion
Short- and long-term operational consulting engagements
Client Perspective
"I've always wanted to start my own retail business but didn't know where to start. I immediately reached out to Adina and Taylor, knowing their amazing work and success at Asrai Garden. They helped me every step of the way starting my dream business. I couldn't have done it without them!"
— Carol Goewey, Founder, Chloe"We have been in business for over seven years, but not in a public-facing retail capacity. This year we opened a new location in a high-traffic area and needed help getting ready for retail business operations. Hiring Trellis to help us was the best thing we did during startup. They came into our meetings prepared, worked around what we needed, and helped organize and plan so we could open a streamlined and professional retail business."
— Joseph Rudy, Founder, The Butterfly House at Navy Pier
Favorite Advice
Try to avoid reactive decision making.
If something comes up, take a beat and think through at least five possible solutions before instituting a new policy.
A Few Fun Things
Favorite small businesses: All Together Now, Merz Apothecary, The Center of Order & Experimentation, and For Dog's Sake
Coffee or tea? Coffee
Favorite movies: The Princess Bride for Adina and High Fidelity for Taylor
Something you might not know: Adina and Taylor first met because Adina's dad and Taylor's father-in-law are friends and were college roommates.