INDIA-born Nayana “Nancy” Patel has smashed glass ceilings over and over again in an industry in which men have dominated.
Founder-President of Nishita Investments LLC and vice president at Kosmada LLC, Nancy is not just a successful hotelier. She also has been a trail-blazing leader.
Ever challenging the skewed gender representation and stereotyped roles in the hospitality industry, she is known for making her own mark in whatever role she undertakes.
Today, with almost four decades of experience in hospitality, she has bloomed into a multi-talented visionary, a motivator and a leader, marking her presence across a span of industries from finance to the electric-automobile sector.
Nancy’s career and life is sprinkled generously with many “firsts.” In a candid conversation with Women of Color Power List 2025, she talked in detail about her life’s challenges, milestones, beliefs and what keeps her driven and determined.
"I want women to know that we can multitask, do various things and expand our horizons, just like men. I want them to know that besides just taking care of the basic operations in any business, there's so much more, like taking lead or getting into a partnership.
“My main mark on this sector is setting an example and making other women believe that they, too, can take leadership roles,” she says.
Hospitality is her second nature as she saw, experienced and mastered its ropes very early in her life.
“I was born in India, in Gujarat, in my mom's village when she was traveling to India. I was raised in England for 11 years. Then my father came to the U.S. and bought a motel in east Texas. We followed him soon after and that’s how basically our family ended up in the hospitality industry.”
“Even as a young person, we (my sister and I) would help our parents on the weekends, making up rooms, handling front desk, doing laundry, doing the whole nine yards. That’s how I learned the basics.
"At the age of 18, I got engaged to my husband and got married at 19. However, between 18 and 19, we built our very first property, a 21-unit independent motel.
“Back then, we used to run that business 24 hours. It wasn't easy. We both were doing double jobs so we could pay off our debts at the same time. In 1994, we went on our second venture with our first partner.
“From there, we picked up the pace, expanding into building, buying and acquiring hotels.”
Nancy’s mantra in life has been to be grateful for each day as it comes, for each day teaches something new.
She recalled, “Within first six years of my marriage, I ended up in a major car wreck that left me paralyzed. Back then, we never imagined that I would ever walk again. I was almost suicidal as suddenly, from an active woman, I had become a bed-ridden burden on my family.”
When she started walking again after almost two years, she made up her mind to put her skills to good use. She not only took over the business operations at Kosmada with great fervor, she reached many benchmarks on the way.
“Soon after, I joined Asian American Hotel Owners Association (AAHOA) and in 2007, I ran an election against a very popular male figure from Georgia.”
Such associations’ regional positions are very hard to win, because this sector is dominated by men, she says.
“It was very tough, but I eventually won, thereby becoming the Georgia’s first female Regional Director at AAHOA. Around that time, I co-created Women In Hotel Leadership (WIHL) platform with Hina Desai and Kalpana Patel from the Midwest to empower women to take on leadership roles.
“We started doing a lot of women conferences throughout that year and started encouraging women, telling them our experiences, networking and understanding their challenges.”
The platform is now revamped to HerOwnership.
“This is a huge legacy for AAHOA that I was part of leaving a future for young females to excel in leadership.
“I have always been a vocal supporter of any woman who is willing to take on challenges,” Nancy insists. “I am willing to come on a platform to show to future leaders and hoteliers that there are leadership roles available, you just got to go for it and make your mark.”
Owing to her firm belief in gender equality, Nancy actively supported, mentored and cheered on Jagruti Panwala in her campaign to become AAHOA’s first chairwoman, thus creating history.
Breaking through glass ceilings on the community level, Nancy became the first female president of Leuva Patidar Samaj (LPS) of USA, an organization of people originating from the Navsari, Surat, Tapi, Bharuch and Valsad districts of Gujarat in India who have settled in the U.S.
During her term, the COVID-19 pandemic struck, but Nancy made sure to make use of her unique position to leave a legacy forever.
She reveals, “I had just lost my father who, alongside my husband, was my biggest supporter. During the COVID crisis, I felt as if he was watching me, and I felt a strong drive to do something for the community.
“In 2021, during the deadly second wave that rocked India, seeing the unprecedented levels of deaths and crisis, I decided I wanted to do something more impactful to save lives in India.
“It was still a huge challenge despite me being the president of LPS of USA at the time. My own officers challenged me, saying ‘You can't do that.’ I challenged them back, saying, ‘If you stop me in helping our mother country, I will resign and tell the community that I was not supported in my effort.’
“After much brainstorming, we decided to install oxygen plants in some hospitals in Gujarat as people were dying due to lack of oxygen.”
It was an expensive affair, but Nancy raised “more than half a million dollars in about 30 days” and eventually managed to get the plants installed in 14 hospitals in Gujarat.
“I consider that as my biggest milestone in life. I feel good thinking that I spearheaded something that saved and will continue to save lives. I wanted to do something that will leave a mark and impact the lives of a wider community and I was able to do that,” she says.
Over the past three years, Nancy’s horizon has expanded into other industries as well. She is on corporate boards of two companies, one is dealing in electric vehicles (Triton EV) and other in AI-enabled smart hotels (The EV Hotel). The latter is one-of-its-kind futuristic concept where hotels will be all AI driven with smart devices in the rooms to robots to serve to contactless front desks.
To further support and encourage women to be more financially aware, Nancy is also venturing into financial planning through her own business Your Future Financial Solutions.
Over the years and beyond Nancy has worn and juggled many hats, playing each role with determination, passion and a fresh approach.
