A pioneer in the Natural Hair Care business has sadly left us: Titi Branch. Even if you haven’t met or knew her personally it’s very likely that many of you have seen her somewhere brightly smiling with her sister Kiki showing off their perfect curls in an ad for Miss Jessie’s.

As the co-founder of one of the first products on the market to define curls, Titi was a trailblazer.

She and her sister both with a head full of big fabulous curls were a team that showed the straight hair-minded world another kind of beauty: unapologetically power curls.

The sisters invented the shingling method, a way to define natural hair. A service they offered in their salon in Brooklyn named Curves.

My famous twist out, the style on the cover of my book, was  based on their idea of the shingling method. Today it is hard to imagine the natural hair world without a twist out.

As the co-founder of Miss Jessie’s Titi did an exceptional job of taking that little brand that was only available in their salon in Brooklyn, to the next level and making it a worldwide name.

The posters of Titi and her sister radiantly smiling with perfect curls adorning window panes and subway stations across the country was part of a marketing strategy that took them to the next level. It is part of a legacy and that’s how Titi will always be remembered.

It is extremely sad that such a bright inspiring woman has left us at the age of 45. Suicide the article read which only sends another message. Be kind to one another and if you are in pain please ask for help.

RIP Titi 

Titi in a Miss Jessies ad in the subway

 Watch this beautiful tribute made by Andre Robert Lee

My Titi from Andre Robert Lee on Vimeo.