If you take a trip to The Social Society, located in Ponte Vedra Beach, and admire the colorful murals on the wall, you can thank Maggie Beckett. The playful photos on the store’s website, the colorful collages on social media, the bubbly newsletters – Beckett has had a hand in it all.
Beckett met Seri Kertzner, founder of The Social Society, over a decade ago as she finished her degree at Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts for graphic design and digital art. Kertzner invited Beckett to do some freelance work for her event planning business located in New York City, Little Miss Party Planner.
Beckett eventually moved to New York City to take on a permanent position with Kertzner’s business. The two quickly established a dynamic working relationship, which is how Beckett became so heavily involved in Kertzner’s next business venture in Northeast Florida: The Social Society.
From the moment Kertzner began conceptualizing her dream store, through brainstorming business names and determining how the store would operate, Beckett was involved in every aspect of The Social Society’s creation. Kertzner credits her as one of the store’s founders.
“After so many years of knowing Seri, it was a huge goal of hers to open The Social Society. We were so excited and so proud that it finally happened,” Beckett said.
Beckett acts as Kertzner’s Creative Director, handling a large majority of the brand’s digital content and digital design aspects. She manages the brand’s social media accounts, designs and performs upkeep on the brand’s website, and spends time in the Ponte Vedra Beach store for content photoshoots.
“I’m handling all of the things that I always did for the company, which is the creative, back-end, digital side of it all, which I’m so happy to do,” Beckett said. “It’s always been a joy to do content and website design with our event planning team in New York, but to be able to do it for The Social Society feels even more fun because it’s product-facing.”
The hands-on aspect of being at the Ponte Vedra Beach store is one of the qualities that Beckett enjoys the most, staging products and working directly with the employees who understand which of the most popular items should be photographed.
Beyond working closely with the products, Beckett has also enjoyed watching The Social society take on a new direction with its thriving in-store events, such as mixology classes, bouquet making classes, and other creative workshops.
“The community was really craving something to do and I think that’s why the events are so exciting,” Beckett said. “It’s so natural for us because we’re party planners, so to host events like this for the community, it just feels like a perfect fit.”
