Women in Business: Lauren Conklin Trim - Sentry Heating and Air

Sentry Heating and Air is a family-owned business, and they strive to make their customers feel like family too.

“We really place our value as a family on our customers,” said CIO Lauren Conklin Trim.

Trim’s father, Charlie Conklin, started Sentry about 30 years ago and the business has always been based in Vestavia Hills. Sentry provides service work not only for heating and cooling systems, but also for generators, water heaters, sewers, drains and specialty home health products such as filters, purifiers, humidifiers, thermostat controls and zoned heating and cooling systems. The company can service systems for residential, commercial and light industrial buildings.

Though she helped out with odd jobs, Trim never thought of her father’s business as a future career path for herself. After she graduated from University of Alabama with a business and marketing degree, however, Conklin offered Trim a job to manage Sentry’s technology, bring in new systems and come up with fresh ideas for the business.

Five years later, Trim said she’s really happy with the choice to work with her father and mother, Pam Conklin. She helps keep every aspect of the business running smoothly, from background IT maintenance to making sure everyone in the office has what they need.

“It’s been really fun,” Trim said. “We have a great time in our office.”

Trim makes most of the software decisions for Sentry and recently made service calls paperless by giving technicians tablets to use instead. The switch made it faster and easier for the technicians to complete forms and helps customers see the complete picture of their service order.

“That probably cut down on 300 sheets of paper per week,” Trim said.

The next step will be incorporating membership forms and other documents into a digital format. Whether in their main office or out in the field, Trim said keeping up with new innovation is a central part of Sentry’s success.

“You have to be on the forefront of everything and not behind it,” Trim said.

Having been around the business since she was young, Trim said she has enjoyed watching Sentry grow. However, working for her parents means she holds herself to a higher standard of responsibility.

“There’s nothing worse than disappointing your boss, but when your boss is your parents, you want to do your best,” Trim said.

Sentry strives to set itself apart in the heating and air service world by doing the job right the first time and being a true 24-hour on-call company, Trim said. Being a family-owned business and longtime part of the Vestavia Hills community also helps build lasting relationships with their clients. Trim said Sentry also stays involved with Vestavia schools and youth teams.

“We actually care about our customers and we’re not just a company coming into their home,” Trim said.

Sentry Heating and Air is located at 2490 Rocky Ridge Road and responds to calls throughout the Over the Mountain area and Central Alabama. Call 979-9864 or visit sentryheating.com for more information.