business .
“ My dad first started the business in our house ,” Barbara recalled . “ I was 11 years old , and my brother was 10 years old . I helped my mom take care of my little brother and work in the [ home ] office . As a young girl , by helping my mom , I learned the business over time . It was a way of life for me growing up .”
When the phone rang at the Davis household , it was most likely for a business service call . Many times the person calling was confused when a 12-year-old girl answered the phone for Davis HVAC , and inevitably they asked to speak to her father . The young Barbara would then ask , “ You need a service call ? I can help you .”
After a chance meeting at Kings Island , Barbara met the love of her life and her future husband of 36 years , Dwight Sears . Not only did the Davis family inherit a son-in-law , but they gained an extra employee for the family business .
“ Not long after Barbara and I started dating , her dad put me to work ,” Dwight chuckled .
But Dwight wasn ’ t sure that working in the family heating and air conditioning business was what he wanted to do for the rest of his career .
THE START OF A SECOND FAMILY BUSINESS
After spending eight years working in his new family ’ s business , Dwight made a career move that would greatly impact his and Barbara ’ s life .
In 1995 , Dwight went to work at RECC Co-Op , while his wife Barbara had earned her masters HVAC license and was fully committed to the family Davis HVAC business .
Within five years at RECC , Dwight had an opportunity to start up his own family business with a Co-Op pilot program named Silent Guard . And while Dwight was building his new family-owned home / business security company , his wife Barbara was splitting her time between her two family businesses – Silent Guard and Davis HVAC .
Barbara was still working at Davis HVAC , as the new Silent Guard business shared the same building with Davis HVAC . Barbara had two phones , two computers , and managed two software operating systems . She was the administrative backbone for two completely separate businesses
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Thiral and Sandy Davis used their family van when they first started their Davis HVAC business in 1980 . kybloodcenter . org 800-775-2522
JUNE 2024 SEKY - Southeast Kentucky Life • 15