In March 2003, Suzan Crane took a leap of faith that irrevocably changed her life. Trading in her Hollywood Hills home and lifestyle for a backpack and open ticket, Crane embarked on a journey that has taken her from the Amazon to the Ganges. From Mt. Sinai to Mount Everest. From Tibet and Turkey to Borneo and Fiji. From China and Colombia to Israel and Nicaragua. From Australia to Laos, to Mexico and Morocco. Having traversed six of seven continents, she has provided tsunami aid in India, worked with a rural school in Nepal and a Tibetan Woman’s group in Dharamsala, lived with the Bedouins in Jordan, a former sadhu in India, studied reiki, tai chi, yoga, ayurvedic massage and metaphysics. “Never too late to teach an old dog new tricks,” she opines.
BIO
Born and raised in New York, Crane’s itch for adventure manifested early on when she hitchhiked across the United States after high school. “It was the tail end of the (first) hippie era and still relatively safe to hop in a stranger’s car. We got picked up by all sorts – from suburban moms with their kids in tow to Hari Krishnas donning orange robes. It was a magical summer of discovery which unlocked my mind and heart and indelibly impacted my perspective and future,” she recalls.
Earning a Journalism degree from Ohio University, Crane subsequently became a denizen of New York’s downtown music/fashion/art scene in the late ‘70s/early ‘80s during which time she waitressed at the famed Max’s Kansas City, did publicity and booking for the legendary Mudd Club, wrote the New York Underground column for Trouser Press and cavorted with and interviewed many of the era’s notable punk and new wave artists for a spate of music rags.
After a year living in Mexico and traveling through Europe, Crane returned stateside and joined a high profile entertainment public relations firm where she worked with such artists as George Michael, Simply Red, Run DMC and Scorpions, with whom she maintained a long professional relationship. “It was a wild and crazy time,” she submits. “Limos, helicopters, backstage parties… basically all the excesses and perks that defined the ‘80s.”
A move to Los Angeles followed. More famous and not-so-famous clients, major events including the Grammies, VMAs, Farm Aid, Rock In Rio II, The Wall Concert in Berlin, and Monsters of Rock precipitated seven years helming her own public relations firm, further international travel, and a gig as Senior Vice President/Media Relations for a record company. “I’ve had more than my share of auspicious experiences in the entertainment business,” Crane reflects. “But alas the veneer tarnishes and all good things must come to an end.”
And so it did when the record label folded. “The worst imaginable thing for a workaholic is to be out of work. What to do with all that idle time? It was then that I discovered my latent artistic flair – from ceramics and hand-painting clothing, to ultimately segueing into jewelry design, the medium that stuck, that I love, that I’m good at.” As she has written in numerous articles, it is indeed possible to redefine and redesign one’s life (and jewelry collection!).
When Crane sold her house and most worldly possessions to hit the road in 2003, she left the trendy togs and 200 pairs of shoes behind. She did, however, make space in the rucksack for her beads, bangles and baubles.
Admittedly, she couldn’t have predicted that what began as a passionate hobby would evolve into a passionate vocation. “Today I sell my jewelry all over the world, on beaches and street corners, to shops and in markets.” Despite the burdensome load — the fifty plus pounds of stones and silver she lugs on her back, it has been a fortuitous and happy little accident. Or was it? “I’ve come to believe that there really are no accidents,” Crane decrees. “Just a series of circuitous events. When I lost the job that so defined me I thought my life was over. But it was actually the beginning of an entirely new and exciting chapter.”