Miko Branch Co-Founder, Creative Director and CO-CEO of Miss Jessie’s

Miko Branch was born to an African American father and a Japanese American mother in the early 1970’s. During her childhood, it became apparent that she was drawn to visual presentation and beauty. Beauty was important to her.

This image of aesthetics was manifested in a variety of areas which included what clothes she chose to wear, how her room was decorated and how her hair was fixed. Miko’s mother had little time to participate in the activities that Miko enjoyed. Her mom attended art school in New York City at the School of Visual Arts and worked fulltime to help support the family. Some of the activities Miko enjoyed were tea parties, dressing up, doing make up and experimenting with different hairstyles. At the time, Miko enjoyed hair and make-up sessions because this enabled her to emulate the iconic beauties she saw on television growing up. The beauty idols that stood out to her were, Cher, Donna Summer, Charlie’s Angels, Lola Falana, Diana Ross, the “Asian Lady” with long black hair from Soul Train, Thelma from Good Times, Jean Ashe (Arthur Ashe’s wife) and Jayne Kennedy to name a few.

Miko adds, “I thought my mother was very stylish and beautiful. Although I saw my mother in me, I did notice that our hair was extremely different. Her hair was really long, straight and black. Mine was multi-textured, kinky and shrunk up. I wanted my hair to look like hers and did everything I could to slick it down.” Miko techniques included a lot of grease and water to smooth down her hair. She remembers her favorites being, Dixie Peach, Vaseline and Blue Magic hair grease. Some times she would experiment with Dippity Do hair gel. “Slick, greasy ponytail variations with deep waves were pretty hot on our block”, Miko remembers.

Around the age of eleven, Miko was bussed out of the neighborhood and sent to a mostly Caucasian public school. Shortly after, Miko begged her mother to “Press” her hair with a hot comb to straighten it out. The ponytail and braids were no longer working. Miko’s image landscape had changed dramatically as all her friends had long straight hair that moved. Amazingly, the physical state of Miko’s hair changed from kinky to straight once pressed by her mother but Miko realized how much grease was required to thermally straighten the hair. In addition, her hair did not move the way she wanted it to due to the grease. She also noticed once the hair got wet it would revert and shrink back to its kinky state. It didn’t help matters when the volunteer moms of the school cringed when they had to navigate through Miko’s greasy, thick and straightened hair during routine checks for lice.

A permanent chemical Relaxer was the next move. Miko’s favorite grandmother Jessie always made time to indulge Miko about her hair. Jessie made sure to get Miko’s hair washed, conditioned, braided or blow-dried straight during her visits with her in Poughkeepsie, NY. Miko’s grandmother got on the chat circuit and found out all she could about a “Perm” aka Relaxer. Miko’s mother pitched in and spoke to some of her Brown friends (as Miko’s seven year old references people of color) for their opinions. The myths and stories of burning were very scary but it was decided that if it were to be done, it would be done right. “Black Hair Is” located in a town house in New York City was chosen as the place for Miko to get her 1st Relaxer. “The minute I got home, I washed my hair to see how it handled. It was smooth and straight. No more kink when wet. I was in heaven”. Miko remembers. Miko had started applying her own Relaxer thereafter. Siblings and friends received their first Relaxers and haircuts from Miko. “Growing up and til this day, I was always the go to gal for hair and beauty”, she chuckles.

The hairstyles were very interesting during the eighties while Miko was a teenager. These styles included: Mullets, Hi-Low’s, Asymetrical Cuts, Braids, Extentions and Weaves. By this time Miko was the designated hairstylist for the girl crew. In Miko’s mind, she was expert at Relaxers, Rinses, Cutting, Weaves, Thermal Hot Curling, Extentions and make-up too. This designated position carried out all through early adulthood. Before the party, date or club, you had to see Miko to get yourself together.

In her early twenties, Miko went on to study Fashion Design at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City and realized (the day she graduated) that it was not the path for her. The projects took too long and she wanted instant gratification in her finished product. “Why not hair?” Miko thought. She was good at it, it came naturally and it did not take a long time for a finished result. She enrolled herself in beauty school the day after she graduated from FIT.

In the early nineties, she worked in a variety of salons and went on to start her own hair practice in her Brooklyn studio. Miko freelanced, did photo shoots and advertisement campaigns to build up capital to start her first storefront salon (Curve Salon) on Bond Street in the Boreum Hill section of Brooklyn with her sister in 1997. Eventually, the salon was moved to the parlor floor located in the stately Brownstone section of Brooklyn, Bedford Stuyvesant in 1999. The focus on curly, kinky and wavy hair got serious…. Miko carved out and trail blazed the Kinks to Curls niche. In a short time, Curve Salon would go on to be recognized as the hideaway spot in Bedford Stuyvesant that made good on the amazing Before and After photos viewed on line (they are posted up until this very day). The salon went on to be named Miss Jessie’s Salon.

It did not matter if you were Black, White, Jewish or Latina. If you wanted a solution to your specific hair type, Miko was the go to person. She had very specific thoughts and techniques on how curly, kinky and wavy hair should be approached. Her methods were a proven success with both effective chemical and non chemical approaches. She shared her countless Before and After pictures making you all bear witness to the fact that it is possible to achieve your potential hair goals. The shared information was critical in your education to this new hair phenomenon. Women who were too afraid to embark in the unknown area of curls, kinks and waves now had a point of reference in what to expect from their hair over time (The Process) as Miko shared her pictorial “Transitioner” client history on line. Miko created and developed the ever popular chemical approach named the “Silkener’” and the effective “Angle and Balance” cutting method while working in New York.

Miss Jessie’s products shortly followed to support the techniques and methods Miko implemented in the salon which helped serve as the workshop and reference point for product development. The salon and product have been featured in countless magazines, Marie Claire, Elle, Essence, Oprah, Time Out and Lucky to name a few.

Many have been inspired. Both stylist and clients have adopted and often imitate the principles and procedures implemented by Miko. You ask why? Very simple. “If you listen to your audience and develop real solutions that work, its’ only natural for people to want what is good”.

Globally, we are seeing more and more images of women with texture. Miko takes pride and credit for showing women how change is possible. They now have the confidence and education to support their switch from Relaxers to curly, kinky and wavy textures. More and more are freeing themselves of the regular six week salon visits that have bound them for so many years. As a result, the liberation has finally occurred.