The Contagious World of Logan Tay
Interviewed & Written By : Hannah Corbett
In the saturated world of “drop culture” and fleeting digital aesthetics, it is rare to find a brand that feels less like a transaction and more like a destination. To step into the universe of Logan Tay is to leave the frenetic pace of everyday chaos behind and wade into a sun-drenched coastal dream.
The woman behind the beads, Logan—the brand isn’t just a business; it’s a living autobiography. Her journey is a masterclass in staying true to one’s frequency in a world that often demands a different tune.
“I was always the kid cutting up my clothes,” Logan laughs, her energy as vibrant as the turquoise stones that define her latest collection. “My mom would find me in my bedroom making a skirt out of a pair of pants. If I didn’t like it, I was going to make it my own.”
This innate DIY spirit was nurtured in an environment of pure artistry. With a mother who is a professional artist, Logan grew up surrounded by paint, sketchbooks, and the permission to be messy. But while the studio was her home, the ocean is where she found herself. A surfer since the age of eight—and the sport through which she eventually met her husband—Logan found her ultimate muse in the swells of Hawaii.
Traveling with a best friend who was a big-wave surfer, Logan was struck by the “beachy jewelry” of the islands—pieces that possessed a raw, organic soul she felt was missing back home. That gap in the market wasn’t just a business opportunity; it was a calling.
Returning from Hawaii, Logan didn’t draft a business plan; she taught herself how to solder. The early days of the brand—originally launched as L O Tide Jewelry—were defined by pure grit. “I had no money to put into the business,” she recalls. “I would essentially make something, sell it, and then use that money to keep going.”
The “early years” were a lesson in humility and the reality of the “starving artist” hustle. Logan remembers the funny but daunting reality of her first pop-up markets, where she lacked enough inventory to even cover the surface of her table. “I have these pictures of literally four items spread out on the table. I can’t imagine what people thought when they walked up,” she says, laughing. “Hopefully, they thought we looked really limited edition.”
The brand’s evolution took a definitive turn when launching its first-ever fine jewelry line at a major resort in Florida. It was then that the decision was made to rebrand to Logan Tay. Using her middle name, Taylor, the brand became a namesake that carried a piece of her identity through her marriage.
While 2020 forced a global pause, it acted as a slingshot for Logan. After being laid off from LoveShackFancy—where she had gained immense inspiration and even helped open their Palm Beach store—she took the leap into full-time entrepreneurship.
The growth was visceral and, at times, chaotic. Her “office” was a studio apartment where the lines between life and work blurred entirely. “I literally had beads in my silverware drawer,” she says. As she moved into a one-bedroom, the business followed, overtaking her living room with fifty boxes stacked to the ceiling.
It was during the COVID-19 lockdowns that Logan pioneered “Story Sales” on Instagram. These raw, direct-to-consumer sales—where she would post and sell whatever she had just finished making—took off with a velocity she hadn’t anticipated. It proved that, in a time of isolation, people were hungry for connection and storytelling.
“Without storytelling, there’s really nothing,” Logan notes. “I do everything—from the styling of the shoots to the direction to the creative. It has to come out true to me.”
I asked Logan, “Is there anything that has surprised you—other than just, oh my God, I can’t believe I’m doing this?” Her response was thoughtful:
“Yeah, it’s crazy to hear you say that, to be honest, because I think that when you have a business and you’re a founder, you’re always onto the next thing, the next thing. Sometimes it’s hard to stop and say, ‘Oh wow, look at what we did.’ We started with literally nothing, and now we’re in all of these big retailers. It’s not that it’s surprising to me—
I don’t believe in luck. I believe in working really hard. And my faith is very strong, so I feel like God has brought me all of these bigger accounts and dream accounts that I never would have imagined us being in.”
Today, Logan Tay is a powerhouse. The brand has moved from studio apartments to a significant Palm Beach office and has secured dream partnerships with retailers like Free People and Anthropologie. A major turning point came through a collaboration with influencer Anna Stowell, whom Logan credits with bringing a new level of visibility to the brand.
Despite the scale, the creative process remains tactile. Logan often bypasses pen and paper for a more hands-on approach. She laughs when she says, “I’m trying to be better at this, but I’m very much the kind of person that when I have an idea, it just comes to me. A lot of the time I have a design closet in here that has a lot of different beads, charms, textures, ribbons. I think a collection starts with an inspiration board for me—colors, themes, and what I want the collection to feel like. Then I’ll go into my design closet, pull out those colors, pull out those textures, and start designing that way. That’s really how it happens. Sometimes I can have pen to paper, but other times I’m really using my hands.”
This commitment to the handmade feel is what makes Logan Tay stand out in a lineup. The jewelry is chunky, colorful, and unapologetically fun—a beachy aesthetic that filled a void in the high-end market.
A central pillar of the brand is the Charm Bar, a concept designed to let the customer tap into their own creative spirit. “The pieces I create do well, but I also wanted other people to be creative themselves,” Logan explains.
Despite the glitter of success, Logan is refreshingly candid about the pressures of modern entrepreneurship. She speaks openly about creative block and the overwhelming nature of social media’s constant push-push-push culture.
“The last three months of last year were really, really hard,” she admits, having shared her journey of burnout openly with her followers. For Logan, the antidote to the comparison trap of Instagram is her faith. “I refuse to be quiet about things like that. I think our stories can help other people. I’ve always stayed in my own lane, but it’s easy to think you need to be dropping the way others are. You have to know how to pull yourself out of that.”
As for the future? Don’t expect a rigid five-year plan from Logan. In a world obsessed with what’s next, she is radically committed to what’s now.
“I try to be very present and live in the present. Our generation gets so ahead of themselves,” she muses. Logan says her team works hard, but she feels that having a strong team—and an even stronger community—is what holds everything up. She goes on to explain that so much of the community has been there from the very beginning, with L O Tide. “It’s not about the money. It’s never been about the money,” she concludes. “If I can impact one person walking through my doors and make them feel joyful, happy, and kind, then I’ve succeeded. I want people who don’t feel like they fit in to walk into Logan Tay and feel like they belong.”
In the universe of Logan Tay, the jewelry is a standout—but the contagious joy is the real legacy.