Our Team
Doug Nielsen
Chief Executive Officer
Doug has been an entrepreneur and internet pioneer for over 25 years. He is the co‑founder and President of The Rush, which offers manufacturers and retailers an end‑to‑end solution for returns. Prior to Rush, he founded Hayneedle in 2002 and was the Chairman until the sale of the company to Jet.com/Walmart in 2016. Under Doug’s leadership, the company grew from under $1M in revenue to $350M in just under 15 years. Under Doug’s watch, Hayneedle (as NetShops) achieved #13 on the Inc. magazine “5,000 Fastest Growing Private Companies in America” list and was named on the Best Places to Work list over multiple years.
Julie Mahloch
Chief Business Development Officer
Julie is co-founder and Chief Business Development Officer for The Rush. Prior to Rush, Julie co‑founded and was VP Category Development at Hayneedle. In her role, starting in 2002, she helped pioneer the home goods category online. Julie’s extensive e‑commerce experience and passion for home furnishings led her to tackle the returns and overstock challenges that companies face doing business online.
Jeff DeRuiter
Chief Operating Officer
Jeff has 25 years of experience in logistics management and the catalog/online retailing business, and currently serves as the Chief Operating Officer of The Rush. After graduating from Stanford and USC, Jeff spent 6 years in logistics, operations and warehouse management consulting. His career moved to Omaha where he led operations, design and management at Oriental Trading Company. Prior to Rush, Jeff was the VP of Operations at Hayneedle where he led all operations of customer care, fulfillment, inventory management and oversight of a network of several thousand drop ship fulfillment partners.
