After fifteen years of working his way up though the competitive ranks of New York City’s financial sector, Rush owner and founder, Andrew Pudalov, made a conscientious decision to leave his most recent position as Head of a Global Fixed Income Derivative Desk at National Australia Bank to pursue an interest he felt was a virtue of higher importance. While Andrew worked his entire adult life for a number of prestigious financial institutions to achieve an expertise in institutional fixed income derivative trading, he simply felt it time to gratify another more altruistic ambition he had always held.
Pudalov, his wife, and their two young children relocated to Colorado in 2004 in order to fulfill a lifelong dream of living in the beautiful backdrop of Boulder while Andrew pushed forward with his vision to establish a place where people could eat healthy, eat well, and truly enjoy the unadulterated and organic elements of the earth.
Pudalov founded Boulder’s University Hill district’s first all-natural smoothie bar in the fall of 2004 providing a healthy alternative to the common “Hill” fare. Using 100% all-natural fruits and juices and a bevy of other organic ingredients, Andrew introduced a menu comprised of distinctive smoothies and revolutionary blended Açaí bowls. Pudalov tirelessly devoted his time to perfecting the use of whole, honest ingredients and building strong staff and customer relations. His efforts paid off and people were quickly receptive to the friendly environment of the store and absolute purity of the products it offered.
As the Hill store gained a strong, loyal following due mainly to the incredible popularity of the Açaí bowls and their like descendants, Pudalov knew it was time to expand in order to spread the health to the rest of Boulder. He opened a second, much larger location in January of 2006 in the up and coming North Boulder area and launched a new line of frozen grab-n-go bowls very soon after.
With both stores thriving and the grab-n-go line receiving a lot of attention, Pudalov launched Rush’s Wholesale Division. This branch of the company was instituted to focus on the frozen bowls and make them more readily available to their devoted enthusiasts through a wide array of supplementary retailers.
As the bowls continue to receive both regional and national acclaim, Pudalov maintains his commitment to spreading the joys of pure, honest health and making Rush the best possible company it can be. He also finds the time to revisit his roots by teaching derivatives at the University of Colorado from time to time just for old times sake.