BOZEMAN, Montana — Even the most fashion-illiterate person would note Tracey Crane knows how to dress with flair and glamour — even on an off day in her office, where she is sitting dressed in a cream cashmere sweater dress with tapered puff sleeves highlighted with navy pinstripes.
It is both a stark contrast from the attire she donned for her first big game hunt less than two years ago and a reminder of the old adage never to judge a book by its cover.
It is also a reminder that you should never box people into a singular lane — a hard-line conformity that social media loves to impose upon people, not just in politics but also in culture. Whether it is Twitter or Instagram, if you are known to be an expert in one thing or hold a specific position on one topic, there are plenty of people who love to tell you to stay in your lane.
Before joining MeatEater, a wildly popular outdoor brand that has been instrumental in connecting people to nature and hunting in a meaningful way, Crane spent over 15 years helping build meaningful and influential brands, predominantly in the fashion and beauty industries.
Most folks would think it would be a herculean leap to go from leading client strategies for Sephora, Walmart, H&M, Walgreens, and Cover Girl to MeatEater, which had its inception with founder Steve Rinella’s Netflix flagship outdoors show.
Crane said the leap was perhaps not totally herculean and that doing something outside of one’s comfort zone is a good thing.
“I grew up in New York City — Upper East Side, Manhattan, to be specific,” she said. “Went off to college, then back to New York for another eight years. Then it was off to Los Angeles, where I spent the past six years. So I was never exposed as a young individual to a life outside the metropolitan environments of New York or Los Angeles. So in terms of what MeatEater embodies and stands for, it’s a far evolution from my experience and my background.”
MeatEater has grown into a lifestyle company with several wildly popular podcasts that include The MeatEater Podcast and Bear Grease, as well as audiobooks, cookbooks, a clothing line, and gear.
After meeting with Rinella and going hunting for the first time, Crane knew she was ready for a change. “I have always wanted to be connected to nature, to the outdoors, and more with our roots and with our food,” she said. “The first time I went out, I was terrified — on one hand, because it felt totally new, and when you’re an adult trying something new in that capacity, [it] becomes intimidating.”
But if this was what she was going to do next in her professional life, she was determined to commit to the experience no matter how outside her comfort zone she was going. “As a marketer, you need to inherently and deeply understand the brand and the consumer of the brand,” she said.
It goes without saying there was a huge gap in life experiences for Crane when she first walked into the doors of MeatEater here in Montana because she had never engaged in that lifestyle. She said, “A big part of my intention was also to be able to begin to go on a journey to understand what the brand really embodied and to really understand a deeper connection to the mission.”
Five days out on her first hunt, her experience went from intimating to awakening. “While I don’t know if I would call it an epiphany, there was an eye-opening experience around being able to look at hunting in a different light than I had looked at it when I was on the outside of it,” she said. “It has been a very cool journey personally and professionally, and it is really rewarding to be part of a pretty special group of people who come from all different kinds of backgrounds.” She added that her husband now hunts, something he never did before.
That approach wasn’t an accident. Rinella has purposely pulled together people with different backgrounds who come from different places with the intention of challenging what has been done in the outdoor space. He wants to do things differently — it is an approach that has made MeatEater so successful, because it appeals to both legacy hunters and many others who have never picked up a gun.
“We’re in such an advantageous, beneficial position because we have not only such a large community, but a community that is so insanely engaged and so eager to participate in everything that we do, whether it’s launching a new podcast or a new television show or a new audiobook,” she said.
A quick follow of any of the MeatEater-related Instagram content and the engagement says it all. So does its growth on that platform — growth in which Crane has had a big hand.
Her advice comes from experience: Don’t ever let anyone, even yourself, box you into who he or she thinks you are, or who you think you are. “That’s a pretty good motto to live by,” she said.
