Navigating Change: Insights from Jeremy Shaw on Energy and Leadership
A $6 Billion Plant Where Nothing Talked to Anything
Jeremy Shaw was working on a multi-billion dollar petrochemical project — a $6 billion plant — and the problem wasn’t the steel or the schedule. It was that every contractor had walked in with its own quality system, its own frameworks, its own way of working, and none of them connected.
Large EPC contracts and prime contractors each bring their own approach. Getting them “all integrated under one roof,” as Shaw puts it, meant answering a basic question: how do we all work together and play together in the sandbox and accomplish this project? Aligning everyone from the main EPCs down through the prime and general contractors under a single reporting structure is what changed the picture. Instead of leaning on day-to-day update meetings, the team pulled real analytics tied to every piece of the puzzle into one reporting framework built on Power BI. Shaw says it made things clear and visible, and it convinced him the approach could work at scale — and bring value to the industry.
The next step is already underway. Shaw describes using 3D modeling so that physical progress in the field can be compared against the analytics, a double win that ties what’s happening on the ground to what the numbers say.
Transparency as an Operating Discipline
Shaw’s position on failure is unambiguous. Companies should be as open about what went wrong as about what went right, and he thinks the reluctance to do so comes down to sales, credibility and opportunity — nobody wants to air out their dirty laundry. His counterargument is economic: “Transparency saves time, effort, rework, and money.”
He frames the contractor’s role plainly. When his firm comes into a contract with a developer, it is a means to an end — the real objective is getting the asset, whether a natural gas plant or a data center, up and running so it produces revenue. That framing is what makes honesty about missed marks a practical matter rather than a moral one. The habit comes out of nuclear, where operating experience has saved lives and protected plants from the worst outcomes. Shaw wants developers and other companies to learn from his mistakes, and says that if that saves them time, money and effort, he’ll do it.
From the Wrestling Mat to the Org Chart
Shaw has coached wrestling, and he treats it as a leadership education as much as a sport. What he takes from it is discipline, accountability, and pushing people past their comfort level — the same thing he tells his employees. “If we’re all just willing to go with the normal day-to-day stuff, then we’re never going to innovate,” he says. He wants people to raise their hand for the assignment they’re not sure they can handle rather than sitting back and letting someone else take it.
That carries into how he runs the company. The shift clicked when he recognized he couldn’t manage everything day to day, even in earlier roles — he had to trust the talent working for him. “We’re only as strong as the people working for us,” he says. That moved his mindset from executing tasks to looking forward: what he can do for his people to position the company.
It also shows up in access. Shaw says that from the line worker in the field to a project director, people have direct access to him at all times. He’s worked in organizations where the direct manager or above wasn’t approachable, and he doesn’t want to repeat it. He acknowledges that may change as things get busy — he might not take calls at one or two in the morning anymore — but availability stays. The buck stops with him, and his name is on the company.
What Nuclear Gets Wrong in the Public Eye
Public skepticism about nuclear energy still runs high, and Shaw says the biggest misconception is that it’s dangerous. His comparison: microwaving your tea and bananas delivers more radiation exposure than a nuclear worker receives in a lifetime. The design philosophy is built around redundancy — redundant trains, redundant pumps, redundant safe shutdown systems that have been engineered, proven and tested. He calls it one of the safest work environments and sectors in the industry.
Regulation backs it up. The NRC is heavily involved in day-to-day operations at every commercial nuclear plant, and Shaw describes a year-round cycle of testing, training, auditing and gap analysis covering every life cycle of the plant — laborers, mechanics, operators, engineers. Any deviation in performance would get a plant shut down. Very few have been, he notes, because of the work that goes into it.
Never Stop Being a Student
Shaw’s advice to students is the same advice he applies to himself: never stop being a student. He says he could have been satisfied as a project manager or a department manager, maybe further up in an organization, but he wasn’t. He wanted to keep growing, keep learning, keep setting high goals. If you don’t challenge yourself and set the bar high, you’ll never know whether you can reach it.
That outlook is what took him from project management into starting a company, which now operates out of a home office in East Liverpool, Ohio, with work in Pennsylvania and West Virginia. His message is to stay a student, keep learning, set high goals — and don’t sell yourself short.
Full transcript · 2,837 words
Machine-generated transcript of “Navigating Change: Insights from Jeremy Shaw on Energy and Leadership”. Paragraph breaks mark a change of speaker.
Good afternoon. This is David Abshire with Under Pressure Podcast. Today we have Jeremy Shaw. Jeremy, thanks for joining us today, buddy. Thanks, David. Thanks for having me. Absolutely. So you grew up surrounded by construction and energy. Your uncle was an engineer and a builder, and your father helped build nuclear power plants like Comanche Peak. Was there ever a point where you considered doing anything other than working in energy?
I mean, as a as a young man, yeah, I mean, you we all have hopes and dreams for for the future. You know, I I always thought that, you know, my my other uncle, you know, built homes residential commercial side. And I always thought I did that in the summers growing up. And I thought maybe I'd go that route, right? And I did it for a few summers and then got through school. And then I I kind of knew when I graduated, like, you know, I want to be in nuclear like my dad and my uncle. So the thought was there, but you know, I I guess there was other plans.
Yeah, absolutely. No, that's great. So you spent years in the nuclear industry before making the jump into a massive petrochemical project. What surprised you most when you compared those two worlds?
I would say that the the quality frameworks is in nuclear is more like military. I mean, everything is segmented, everything's quality from procedures to qualifications and testing. There's a definitely a difference in both industries. And I would say that I I was able to bring some of that with me into petrochemical. But yeah, definitely the the regulatory frameworks, you know, our regulators and how stringent and strict it is as far as safety goes. You know, it's one of the safest industries in the country, in the world, right?
So absolutely. You've said turning point in your career came while you were working on a multi-billion dollar petrochemical project where you kept seeing disconnected project management systems that no one seemed able to fix. What did you see that convinced you you there had to be a better way to do things?
I think it was just, you know, and and and specifically for us with large EPC contracts and prime contractors, there everybody brings in their quality system and their frameworks and their ways of working. And it's it's getting them all integrated under one roof, right? How do we all work together and play together in the sandbox and accomplish this project? Finding out, you know, what everybody's strengths are and what their weaknesses are is the things that we saw in that, you know, that $6 billion petrochemical plant. And so aligning everybody from the main EPCs down to the prime contractors, general contractors under one roof, one reporting structure made things so much more visible. You know, instead of relying on your day-to-day meetings and update meetings, you're looking at real analytics tied to what everybody's doing, every piece of the puzzle under one reporting framework with Power BI. I mean, it just made things clear, made things visible. And that really for us was like, hey, this is something that we can do on a large scale, and I think we can bring value to the industry. And it really has. And now, even forward looking, we're we're using 3D modeling. So now instead of just the reporting and the analytics, we're actually looking at physical progress in the field and compared to those analytics.
So it's it's a two, you know, it's it's a double win there. Absolutely. No, that's so cool. And that's one of the great things about technology today, where you're able to do those types of things, it just makes everybody's life so much easier. And it's something too that, you know, looking back 20 years ago, we never thought, you know, that we'd ever be doing. So it's uh it's exciting to see that kind of shift in the industry for sure. So instead of accepting that's just how the industry works, you and your group of colleagues, you know, spent years building and testing your own project management framework before launching your company. Why were you willing to take the risk?
Because, you know, when you when you test your frameworks out, you want to put it in front of people that are not going to be biased on their opinions and provide true valuable feedback. And so when we tested it in the industry and we were getting in droves feedback, hey, how how can we get this? How can we use this? You know, and just really good strong feedback from people that you would trust their opinion and their feedback. And that was really that was really the point, the turning point for us, saying, hey, we have something here, it's been tested. Leaders in the industry, you know, accept it and and want to use it. You know, it's and once, you know, once you get the rest of your quality management system put together and all your frameworks and procedures, it was it was time. You know, we made the investment, we did our due diligence, and and now it was time to go out there and put it out in the world and use it.
Nice, nice. Now, one thing that really stood out to me was your belief that companies should just be as transparent about what went wrong as about what went right. And why do you think the industry has been reluctant to openly share those lessons?
My personal opinion, it's it it goes into the it's the big machine, right? We I mean we're still a small scaling EPC company, we're getting larger as we go, but at that level, to which you know we're we're targeting getting there one day, but it it comes down to sales and credibility, I I believe, right? And opportunities. Nobody wants to air out their dirty laundry, but for me and for what we base systematic off of is that transparency saves time, effort, rework, and money. At the bottom line, we when we come into a contract with a developer, we are nothing but a means to an end for them, right? The real thing is getting that asset, that natural gas plant, that data center up and running so they can achieve their real goal and the real revenue, right? Of it operating. Yeah. And and so keeping that in mind, we need to be transparent about where we didn't hit the mark, right? That that open, honest transparency is something that I got in nuclear, and it's something that we still intend to use today and systematic, even though we are still an EPC. You know, I want people to learn from our mistakes so they can use them in their world, right? Operating experience in nuclear has saved lives, right? Has protected us from meltdowns and and and for you know the worst of the worst things. So if I can do that and save our developers and other companies like us time, money, and effort, then I'm going to do that.
Yep, absolutely. Now you've coached wrestling for years, and it sounds like that experience has shaped your leadership style just as much as your engineering career. How has coaching athletes influenced the way you build your teams and business?
I think it's just about, you know, discipline, accountability, and and encouraging people like I did my athletes to kind of step out of their comfort level, right? And and if if we're all if we're all just willing to go with the normal day-to-day stuff, then we're never going to innovate and we're never going to achieve excellence. And so the same thing I tell my people, be willing to put yourself out there. You know, instead of sitting back and letting someone else take the league, don't be afraid to step up and say, hey, I I want to give it a shot. I think I I think I can handle this assignment. You know, and that just shows that ability to keep learning and staying a student and growing and learning as we go.
Yep, absolutely. So you've gone from managing projects to leading to an entire company. And you said your job today isn't about solving every problem yourself. It's about making sure your people have everything that's needed to succeed. When did that shift in leadership click for you?
I I think it shifted when, you know, in the beginning stages, like like we talked about when we're out testing our frameworks, it's, you know, we had a goal to accomplish, to achieve. And and I've always taught myself, you know, I can't do it all. Even when I was a manager at nuclear plant, I I could not manage everything day to day. I have to trust in my people and the talent that works for us. We're only as strong as the people working for us. And so as something that I brought up from nothing to where we are today, I had to know that I had the right team working for me and that I could trust that they're going to deliver. And so then that changes your mindset from executing XYZ day to day to now I'm looking forward to the future and what I can do for my people to position us and our company in a good place.
Absolutely. You also said something I really, I really liked, and this is something that I feel like hits kind of dear to my heart. So, you know, it says no no matter where someone sits in the organization, from a project director to someone working in the field, they have direct access to you. And why is that so important?
Well, it goes back to I am who I say I am, and I'm gonna do what I say I'm gonna do. And um, part of that transparency, right? I want people to feel like I'm approachable. I've worked in other organizations over the years where direct manager or above wasn't always approachable. And and the buck stops with me. My name is on the end of this company, right? So those values are very important to me. That from the line worker in the field to a project director, you have direct access to me at all times, right? That may change over the years if things get busy. You know, I might not take calls at one in the morning or two in the morning anymore, but I am still going to be available to you.
Yeah, absolutely. I think that's extremely important. And I just like you mentioned about the bureaucracy, you see so much of it, and people get titles and certain things, and you know, it just hurts communication across every company that I've ever seen where that bureaucracy slows down progress and keeps you from being able to respond quicker and move quicker. So I definitely commend you for that. So there there's still a lot of public skepticism around nuclear energy, but you spent years inside that industry. What's the biggest misconception people have about modern nuclear power?
That it's so dangerous. You know, the technology is so dangerous and the environmental ramifications from it, you know, people don't understand that, you know, microwaving your tea and bananas receive more radiation exposure than you know a nuclear worker receives in their lifetime. So that's one common misconception, and it's just extremely safe. Everything is built around redundancy, redundant trains, redundant pumps, redundant safe shutdown systems that have been engineered and proven and tested. So uh it's one of the safest work environments and and sectors in the industry. It really is. And and then you have IMPO, you have the NRC, who you know are heavily involved in the day-to-day operations of each commercial nuclear power plant or technology deployed today. Um, and and they heavily regulate that, right? I mean, we would we would I mean four quarters a year, we're we're testing, we're training, we're auditing gap analysis for every life cycle of the plant, from the laborers in the field to the mechanics to the plant operators to the engineers. We're all being tested and audited year round. And if there's any deviation from that performance, then you know, they would shut us down. And you haven't seen very many plants shut down because of the work that goes into it.
So exactly. No, I I agree with you 100%. Now you gave students some advice that really stuck with me. Never stop being a student. Looking back at your own career from maintenance to leadership to entrepreneurship. How has that mindset opened the doors that you never expected?
Just has. I mean, I I could have been satisfied being a project manager, being a department manager, and maybe even further up, you know, in an organization, but I just wasn't satisfied, right? I wanted to keep growing and learning and setting them, you know, high goals for myself. And so if you don't challenge yourself and you don't set the bar high, you'll never know if you're able to achieve it. And so that's how that's how my outlook was. That's how my outlook was going in here. Look, I'm in my mid-40s and I started a company that is growing every day, you know, and it's it's gonna keep growing. And had I not pushed myself or told myself that I could achieve it and remained a student and learned this industry, then I probably would have never tried. So that's my message to everybody is stay a student, keep learning, set high goals for yourself, and don't sell yourself short.
Absolutely. I love that. Um, you know, always, always be a student. And, you know, that's one thing I agree with you 100% that, you know, I look back on my career and, you know, when I was younger and in school, you know, of course, you just think when you're in school, you just want to get out of school, right? And that's really your main focus is just trying to get out of it. And the older I've gotten, I've really appreciated the learning aspect and learning from others and sitting through trainings and sitting through different educational trainings that you can learn different skill sets. I I mean, now, you know, as the older I've gotten, I really appreciate that. Looking back when I was younger, I was like, man, why didn't I want to learn like that? You know, when I was 20. And now, you know, you know, as I've gotten older, it's definitely hard to want to, you know, not listen and not learn. And I'm kind of like a sponge now when I'm around people that, you know, of course, have got really good, real good life experience and can share that wisdom just like yourself. And, you know, I always grasp on to something from everybody that I meet, you know, right. And you're able to take that with you and carry it on to the next level and and be able to pass on hopefully to the next generation. Well, Jeremy, thank you so much for jumping on today. I definitely appreciate your time. I know you're extremely busy. Uh, can you tell us the name of your company real quick? So that way we can make sure we give you a shout-out and everything too, as well. So Systematic. Systematic, okay, perfect. I wanted to make sure, and uh, where are you guys based out of, Jeremy? So we're in Ohio.
We operate our home office is in Ohio, East Liverpool, Ohio, matter of fact, and we operate in Pennsylvania, West Virginia.
Okay, great, absolutely. Well, if anybody's listening, please look look up the Jeremy's company Systematic. Jeremy, definitely thank you so much for jumping on today in your busy schedule. Just whenever you get a chance, one of the things I like to do for all the guests that come on and take time out of their busy schedule, we send out a care package, just a little something that says thank you for jump, you know, jumping on the show and taking time out of your busy schedule. So just whenever you get a chance, if you can shoot me an email this afternoon with your address where you'd like something shipped to, and I'll I'll get the ladies in the office to get something sent out to you.
All right, David. Hey, I appreciate your time. Thanks for joining. Thank you for joining us.
Absolutely. Thank you so much, Jeremy. Appreciate you, buddy. Everybody look up Jeremy Shaw. Thank you guys. Appreciate you. Have a good afternoon. Thanks, Jeremy. Bye bye. Bye bye.