One of the first things people tend to notice about Shad is how tall he is. By no means a giant, at 6'4" he is still most of a head taller than everyone else. When he was in middle school, he started playing basketball just so people would stop looking disappointed when they asked if he played and he said no. His hair was always very dark, almost black and he had the genetic luck to have not started losing any of it before his embrace. His eyes are blue and piercing with little streaks of color that make them look like sunlight reflecting off the sand and water of a tropical beach.

Some would say it was because of his "lifestyle" that he stayed so fit, but it always seemed necessary to him to do so. Between high school and college sports, and his work environment, those who were unfit often found themselves left by the wayside. That was a fate he was not prepared to subject himself to. While he was by no means a bodybuilder, he managed to attain and keep decent muscle definition. In life, he went to the gym for about two hours, at least thrice a week.

He was backup quarterback and #3 wide receiver on his high school football team, played center field on the baseball team, and switched between center and power forward for the basketball team. He went to a Division II school, better known for its business program than athletics, but continued to participate in sports there. He spent more time focusing on his studies and social activities and never distinguished himself athletically.

These nights, he makes for a distinctive figure, being tall and well-built with very traditional American white guy features hinting at anglo-saxon and germanic heritage. He tends to wear mostly black, starting with matte finish dress shoes, slacks, a button down (sometimes with gray pinstripes), tie and jacket. He wears stylish, dark-framed glasses to correct his moderate myopia and keeps his hair in line with current fashion. Despite the overall lack of color he always manages to fall on the stylish side of the line without waxing into Goth territory.