Liz McCrane, a 2016 alumnus of Brownwood High School, returned to her hometown in 2021 just two years after graduating from TCU, and is playing a pivotal roles in two different business ventures.

McCrane originally came back to Brownwood to assist her parents, Steve and Lori McCrane, and brother and sister-in-law, Matt and Megan McCrane, with the start up of Shaw’s Marketplace.

“In the beginning I was brought in for assistance as far as helping design some parts of Shaw’s,” McCrane said. “My main focus was marketing and social media for Shaw’s. Since then I still continue to do that but my role has shifted a little bit and I do more operations work for Shaw’s, a lot of back end things and I run the coffee shop there as well, and I have my own shop within Shaw’s also.”

Regarding the development of Shaw’s since its opening, McCrane said. “When we first opened we had 20 different vendors to start from all different areas of Brown County. We’re coming up on two years at the end of July, and we’ve lost some of those vendors because they’ve grown and gone on to their own ventures, but we’ve added new vendors. The knowledge of Shaw’s and what we’re about has grown within the community significantly and we have people from all over Texas come because they’ve heard about Shaw’s to see it and explore what else Brownwood has to offer.”

Along with Shaw’s, McCrane also oversees Harper House – a Airbnb and event venue that opened in 2022.

“After a year or so of being back in Brownwood I decided to plant my roots here,” McCrane said. “I’ve always had an entrepreneur’s mind and I wanted something of my own. We owned the house before it was called Harper House for several years and I took it over and made it an Airbnb and event venue.”

McCrane has been thrilled with the success Harper House has enjoyed thus far.

“It’s gone really well,” she said. “The Airbnb side, I’m booked pretty much every weekend, whether it’s an overnight stay or for a baby shower, bridal shower, everyone weekend is booked. During the week I try and splice in events as often as I can. I’ve had a few different types of events – sound bath sessions with a business in town pretty consistently, I did a slow market recently which is a farmer’s and artisan market with live music. I did a Valentine’s event back in February, and when I first opened I did a Soiree Under the Stars which was the kickoff event for the venue and that will come up again in the fall.”

McCrane stated additional plans for Harper House are in the works, but was not yet ready to reveal those to the public.

“I have an idea of where I would like to take Harper House in the future,” McCrane said. “I’m keeping those under wraps for now, but I hope they come to fruition in the future.”

Away from work, McCrane said, “Within the community I have small groups that I’m involved in within Coggin Avenue Baptist Church. I’m a part of the Ambassadors program with the Chamber, I’d like to get more involved with the City and downtown specifically, since that’s where Shaw’s is. I try and be as active as I can within the community, and I have a good influence in my dad who is very involved and he’s inspired me to get involved as well.”

As for advice she would offer to those her age looking to make their own impact in Brownwood, McCrane said, “It starts with a dream and an idea and be encouraged by the dreams that you have. Don’t shy away and don’t be afraid. There’s a lot of things logistically you have to plan out to be prepared for when you have a business. As long as you can figure those things out and your business can be successful in those ways, any entrepreneur would say go for it. I see a lot of potential in Brownwood for little businesses and bigger businesses. I know some people who have business ideas and I always encourage them to go for it, plan it out, and talk to people around you that also have businesses as well that can be an advisor.”