Spencer Shaw of Tarkington has worn a lot of hats over the years.
He has trained alongside future Navy SEALs, worked overseas as a defense contractor, served as a Texas state trooper and now owns one of Southeast Texas’ growing custom home construction companies. Through every chapter, however, one thing has remained constant — the Tarkington native has never strayed far from the community that shaped him.
Today, Shaw owns Shaw Construction, building custom homes, barndominiums and commercial projects throughout the region. But long before he was overseeing construction sites, he was a kid growing up in Tarkington, where afternoons were spent hunting, fishing and exploring the back roads with friends.
“I remember getting on my four-wheeler and riding to my friend’s house five miles away on Highway 321 without hardly seeing another vehicle,” Shaw said. “Those days are gone.”
Like many lifelong residents, Shaw has watched Tarkington grow over the years.
“I’m thankful because we’re right in the middle of that growth,” he said. “But it’s bittersweet because you also see the community changing.”
Construction has always been part of Shaw’s family story. His maternal grandfather, David Rice, founded Hub Supply, one of Cleveland’s first lumber yards, before developing property in Tarkington. His uncle was a respected homebuilder, and Shaw spent much of his youth learning the value of craftsmanship and doing a job the right way.
His father, Mark Shaw, reinforced those lessons every day.
“My dad always said, ‘Hurry hurts,'” Shaw recalled.
He laughs remembering how his father could drive past the family gate and immediately notice the padlock had been turned just a few degrees.
“He noticed everything,” Shaw said. “That really stuck with me.”
Oddly enough, Shaw didn’t envision construction as his future. After graduating from Tarkington High School, he attended college before becoming inspired by Marcus Luttrell’s memoir Lone Survivor. Determined to become a Navy SEAL, he spent two years training before entering Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUD/S) training.
His dream ended when he suffered a fractured femur and later tore his rotator cuff while waiting to re-enter training.
“It was the first real mountain I’d ever reached,” he said. “It was hard because it’s all I ever wanted.”
After leaving the Navy, Shaw worked as a defense contractor and completed overseas deployments, including time in Japan and at Guantanamo Bay. While living abroad, he even learned Spanish while pursuing another ambitious goal — a career with the Central Intelligence Agency.
That path changed after he returned home and realized his young niece barely knew who he was because she had grown accustomed to seeing him only through FaceTime.
“It broke me,” Shaw said. “I realized what I was missing.”
Not long afterward, a conversation with former DPS Lt. Jeff Shipley introduced him to the Texas Department of Public Safety.
The professionalism of the agency appealed to Shaw, and he soon entered one of the state’s most demanding law enforcement academies.
“It was tougher than the military,” he said of the academy experience.
His first day as a Texas state trooper coincided with Hurricane Harvey.
Instead of easing into patrol, Shaw immediately found himself helping evacuate residents in Plum Grove, assisting flood victims and watching members of the Cajun Navy arrive with boats to rescue stranded families.
“It was chaotic,” he said. “Everybody was just focused on helping people.”
During his years with DPS, Shaw quickly learned that the public often misunderstands what state troopers actually do.
“I probably wrote around 15 speeding tickets a year,” he said with a laugh.
Instead, his days were spent investigating fatal crashes, assisting with homicide investigations, deploying to the Texas-Mexico border and responding wherever the state needed him most.
Working those scenes changed him.
“You never know who’s driving beside you on the highway,” he said. “You become much more aware of your surroundings.”
Some calls still remain with him, particularly fatal crashes involving children and violent crime scenes he investigated during his career.
Yet when asked what he remembers most fondly, Shaw doesn’t talk about arrests or criminal cases.
Instead, he remembers the people.
“There were times when writing every ticket wasn’t going to help somebody,” he said. “Sometimes people just needed somebody to explain what they needed to do and give them a chance to get back on track.”
Around age 30, Shaw says another turning point arrived.
He and his future wife, Carrington, both became Christians, a decision he says transformed the direction of his life.
“It changed everything,” he said.
As his faith grew, Shaw began praying for direction. At the same time, he had quietly started building homes while still serving as a trooper.
One homeowner hired him to finish a house after another contractor walked away from the project. That successful job led to another, much larger custom home.
Within weeks, Shaw found himself standing at a crossroads.
“I just kept praying, ‘God, what is Your will for me?'” he said. “He kept opening doors.”
Eventually, Shaw left DPS to pursue construction full time.
Today, Shaw Construction has completed well over 100 residential and commercial projects throughout Southeast Texas.
Unlike many builders, Shaw doesn’t begin with stock floor plans.
Instead, clients arrive with ideas, and Shaw works alongside an in-house designer to create homes tailored specifically to each family’s vision.
“We don’t really have a sales pitch,” he said. “Our product is our sales pitch.”
He routinely gives prospective customers the phone numbers of previous clients and encourages them to tour completed homes.
“I put my last name on the company,” Shaw said. “Everything that happens in that house is my responsibility.”
The same attention to detail that served him as a state trooper now guides every project his company completes.
Before homeowners receive their keys, Shaw and his team spend weeks inspecting every room, shining flashlights along baseboards and checking for even the smallest imperfections.
“We’re looking for every little thing,” he said.
Although the company has expanded into commercial construction, Shaw isn’t interested in becoming the biggest builder in Texas.
Instead, he hopes to continue producing quality work while protecting the reputation attached to his family’s name.
Asked what he hopes his young son, Pax, will someday remember about him, Shaw’s answer had little to do with construction or law enforcement. It’s a philosophy that guides him through every season of life.
“I’d want him to know the Bible is true,” he said. “And I’d want him to know not to be a wishful thinker. Hard work matters. You have to put in the effort.”
To listen to the full interview with Shaw on the Bluebonnet News Headlines and Heartlines podcast, click the link below: