Titi Branch, one of the co-founders of natural hair beauty brand Miss Jessie’s, died Dec. 4. According to NV Magazine, the 45-year-old entrepreneur died of an apparent suicide caused by asphyxiation. The funeral is believed to have occurred last weekend.

The Queens native graduated from the University of Maryland with a degree in economics and worked as a producer for WABC-TV before launching a few businesses of her own. She later created the hair-care line Miss Jessie’s with her sister Miko, a hairdresser, in 2004 and named the company after their grandmother, who also made beauty products using natural ingredients. The sisters also ran a salon in Brooklyn that catered to natural hair and found much popularity during the natural hair wave. Their products can be found on the shelves of Target, Walgreens, Wal-Mart, Ricky’s, and CVS among many others.

Branch is survived by her parents, sister, nephew, and boyfriend, Anthony Spadfora, with whom she shared a new venture for beard care products called Maestro’s Classic.
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(Photo: Cindy Ord/Getty Images)