Power Women: Nimisha Patel and Zena Shah
Nimisha Patel
Co-owner/Chief information officer, Galaxy Home Recreation
Zena Shah
Co-owner/Chief financial officer, Galaxy Home Recreation
When Nimisha Patel and Zena Shah describe their path into the industry, they laugh a little — because in truth, neither planned to be here.
For Nimisha, the journey began with tragedy. She was living in Chicago, working in public accounting, when her father died unexpectedly in 2010, and she flew home to Oklahoma to support her family and help stabilize the business he built. She and her brother Ronak weren’t living locally at the time, but both returned, stepping in with no road map.
“There were no notes left for us,” she says. “And we were in the middle of a sales tax audit.” On top of that, they were entering the business during the recession, a daunting time to take on ownership. But they stayed, committed to rebuilding and honoring what their father began.
Zena’s entry came a few years later. Married to Ronak, she was progressing in a career in finance, specializing in mergers and acquisitions. But as she considered how to balance career and family, Ronak posed a new possibility: Galaxy needed a chief financial officer — someone analytical who could help build systems and make sense of data. Zena’s skills aligned perfectly. She joined in 2016 and quickly found her place in the leadership team.
What makes their partnership unique isn’t only that it is a family enterprise — but that all four owners, including Ronak and Nimisha’s husband, Neal, bring different strengths. Zena describes Ronak as a visionary with big ideas, Neal as deeply intuitive on operations, Nimisha as detail-driven with purchasing and financial oversight and herself as analytical and process-oriented.
Growth has been steady and impressive. When Nimisha and Ronak took over, Galaxy had two locations; today, the business has eight — including two new stores in Dallas that opened a few months ago. Their ability to scale at that pace came from a lesson they both had to learn: they couldn’t do everything themselves.
In the early years, Nimisha wanted to be involved in every detail, but as sales volume and the team expanded, she realized growth depended on trust. “We have to rely on other people in order to grow,” she says. Strong reporting systems — often championed by Zena — helped her step back from constant oversight and focus on strategy. That shift has been transformational for the company.
“If we decide in three weeks to open up two new stores, that doesn’t stress me out,” she says. “I know that we have the structure in place to do that.”
Zena echoes that evolution. Early in her career, she believed leadership meant being the expert at everything, but scaling a company demanded something different. “My job is more to find people with the aptitude and the drive to grow with us,” she says. Her focus is on developing people, building systems and creating a culture where employees feel motivated and supported.
Training and development, in fact, have become core differentiators for Galaxy. Employees at every tenure level participate in twice-weekly sales training. Presenters — sometimes even new hires — prepare with support from human resources, managers and trainers. “We don’t need the leaders teaching everybody,” Zena says. “We need everyone being involved in that process.”
Family ownership comes with its own complexities, but both women say the positives far outweigh the challenges. Everyone stays in their lanes — collaborating when needed but owning their areas of expertise, which prevents tension and accelerates decision-making based on trust. “I know we always have each other’s backs,” Zena says.
Their admiration for each other is evident. Zena praises Nimisha’s ability to “ask the right questions” and catch details others miss — something invaluable in purchasing and operations. Nimisha appreciates Zena’s boundary-setting and thoughtful leadership, especially the way she uses systems and metrics to enable others rather than overextend herself.
When it comes to the industry, both women see a landscape full of opportunity — particularly for women. Nimisha believes the industry is uniquely suited to women’s strengths. “We can read a room better, listen and understand people’s emotions,” she says. Given how relationship-based hot tub retail is, those skills are powerful. Zena adds that, unlike some of the male-dominated environments she came from, the spa industry feels collaborative and open to new perspectives.
Their advice to women entering the field reflects their journeys: work hard, be self-taught and don’t wait for permission to grow. “You have to be unapologetically yourself,” Nimisha says. Zena agrees: “Trust yourself and trust your intuition.”
Nimisha’s Tool Kit
- A must-have desk item: external monitor
- Favorite tech tool or organizational system: Microsoft Planner — easy to make lists with due dates and assign to responsible parties
- A wellness habit that keeps you grounded: walking
- Go-to coffee order: black coffee
- A song that amps you up, calms you down or motivates you: “Blowin’ in the Wind” by Bob Dylan
- A book that inspires you: “The Alchemist” by Paulo Coelho
- A favorite piece of advice: Work hard, play harder.
Zena’s Tool Kit
- A must-have desk item: a desk clear of clutter
- Favorite tech tool or organizational system: Using my iPad Pro for searchable and organizable notes has been a surprising game changer for meeting notes.
- A wellness habit that keeps you grounded: gratitude journaling and incline walking most mornings
- Go-to coffee order: cold brew with a splash of oat milk
- A song that amps you up, calms you down or motivates you: currently, anything Billie Eilish
- A book that inspires you: “The Source: Open Your Mind, Change Your Life” by Tara Swart
- A favorite piece of advice: Trust your intuition.
