Today we’d like to introduce you to Shannon Beckham.
Hi Shannon, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I came up with the idea for Jacksonville Beach Moms while I was serving as PTA president at my children’s school. We were planning our Fall Festival and I realized there were no free or low-cost options to promote our community events and I wanted to change that. We first launched Jacksonville Beach Moms in 2017 with a website and social media channels.
Our goal has always been to promote the best that Jacksonville has to offer to families that live and visit the First Coast. In 2020, we add a podcast, Jacksonville Momcast. Now, entering season 3, each month I interview local Jacksonville moms and tell their stories. We focus on mom life in Jacksonville, but also the businesses and non-profits they run.
Our latest adventure has been the addition of published books for Jacksonville families. In 2022, we launched our Amazon shop with a Jacksonville for Kids series that includes a coloring book and an ABCs of Jacksonville book, several other titles will be released later this year.
Since our humble beginnings, I’m proud that we’ve been able to hire Jacksonville moms to write for our website, collaborated with business leaders in our community, and helped local companies spread the word about their services, products, and events.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
The biggest struggle has been the last 2 years, managing the constantly changing landscape of a pandemic.
We had planned to launch a podcast in the spring of 2020, and while we were able to accomplish that, the execution looked nothing like what we had planned.
Information about current Covid policy, capacity limits, and changes to hours of operation, all had to be added or adjusted on all our content so that we weren’t providing families with misinformation.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I have two aspects of our Jacksonville Beach Moms brand that I’m most proud of. First, it’s our dedication to publishing only what we know and love about Jacksonville. I’m very discerning about who we’ll work with and who we’ll accept advertising dollars from.
If it’s not something that our team loves and uses then we politely turn down the advertiser. I think making sure the community trusts us to promote truly what we feel is the best of North Florida is extremely important. The second thing I’m proud of is our ability to hire Jacksonville moms and pay them to write for us.
We have a small team of local parents and I love giving them the opportunity to share their favorite family-friendly things about Jacksonville.
We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?
I don’t know if you’d consider it luck, but one of the things that have helped in building Jacksonville Beach Moms is my previous involvement in other community organizations.
Volunteering at my kids’ schools, board positions on the PTA, leading a Girl Scout Troop, etc.
All of these different experiences as a parent in Jacksonville helped me see exactly what was needed when it came to helping families find great things to do on the First Coast.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.jacksonvillebeachmoms.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jaxbeachmoms/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JacksonvilleBeachMoms
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/JaxBeachMoms
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC78WVC_zThvS2AFGrdD_LZg
- Other: http://jacksonvillemomcast.com/
