Small Door Just Supercharged Its Leadership Team and the Veterinary Industry Should Pay Attention

Small Door Veterinary is stepping into its next era with the kind of momentum most practices only dream about. After a year marked by record profitability and a fresh $55 million capital infusion, the membership-based veterinary brand has made two strategic hires that signal its intention to scale fast without sacrificing culture or care quality. If you have been watching the rise of boutique, subscription based veterinary models, this move should definitely be on your radar.

Meet the New Leaders Steering the Ship

Small Door has hired Mikhayl Alam as its new Chief Financial Officer and Collin Russell as Head of People. Both bring deep experience from high growth consumer and digital health brands, and both arrive at a pivotal time. With six new locations slated to open next year, their roles will shape how the company balances expansion with medical excellence.

Alam joins with more than 15 years of financial and strategic leadership from brands that know how to scale without losing operational discipline. Most recently he served as Vice President of Strategic Finance and Analytics at LaserAway, where he guided multi year strategy across 200 locations. Before that, he spent six years in finance leadership at L Oréal USA, where he helped deliver strong profitability in competitive categories.

Russell steps in as the company’s first Head of People. His background is essentially a roadmap for scaling culture and operational consistency. He previously led talent and culture strategy at Heyday as the company expanded from 4 to more than 35 locations. He also held leadership roles at SoulCycle during its explosive growth from 20 to more than 90 studios, and at Spring Health. For a veterinary company that emphasizes hospitality grade service and team wellbeing, Russell’s track record is a direct match.

A Leadership Team Built for Scale

If these hires seem like the final pieces of a bigger puzzle, that is because they are. Small Door also added Kristen Lombardi earlier this year as its first Chief Operating Officer. Lombardi previously served as COO of Veterinary Emergency Group, another major disruptor in the pet care space. With finance, operations, and people leadership now fully staffed by high level talent, the company is clearly gearing up for a broad national presence.

CEO and Co Founder Florent Peyre said it plainly. Their model resonates with pet owners, their practices are profitable, and they have the capital to grow. The focus now is on ensuring they have the strongest leadership team possible to guide the next chapter.

Why Veterinary Professionals Should Care

For clinicians watching industry trends, Small Door is a case study in what a modern veterinary care model can look like. Membership based primary care. Transparent pricing. Stress free clinic environments. Dedicated telemedicine. A deliberate investment in people and culture. And now, a leadership team that mirrors the sophistication of fast growing human health and consumer brands.

This signals something bigger. Veterinary companies are no longer just competing on medical quality. They are competing on experience, technology, operational efficiency, and long term sustainability. When leadership teams include seasoned experts from outside the veterinary space, it accelerates innovation and raises expectations across the industry.

Alam and Russell have both emphasized culture, support, and quality as core priorities. As Small Door continues to expand, the big question will be how well the company maintains its boutique identity while scaling nationally. For now, the hires suggest that the company is taking that challenge seriously.

Small Door is not just growing. It is maturing, professionalizing, and positioning itself as a national brand that blends hospitality inspired service with high standard veterinary care. For veterinary professionals, this announcement is another reminder that the future of the industry is being shaped by companies that invest not only in medicine but in leadership and culture. And with more growth on the horizon, this likely is not the last major update we will see from them.

If you want to keep an eye on where the industry is headed, keep watching Small Door.