By Joy Sewing, Houston Chronicle
September 11, 2026
My 10-year-old daughter begged to get her hair straightened for back-to-school. I finally caved and sent her to a salon. She came home beaming, tossing her shiny brown hair back and forth.
But she was in tears when it was time to wash her hair, afraid it would bring back her natural curls and she wouldn’t be as pretty.
As much as I talk to my children about their natural beauty, the images around them don’t always enforce that message. Even the wildly popular KPop Demon Hunters, which have my children enthralled, offer a vision of beauty that doesn’t look like them.
So I showed my little girl a photo of Regan Hutsell.
The 25-year-old Houstonian was crowned Miss America 2027 on Sunday, making history as the first Miss Texas to win in 52 years. She’s also the 10th Black woman to win – and the first to win with natural hair that had not been chemically processed or straightened.
Hutsell knows exactly how my daughter feels.
“I was that 10-year-old girl who wanted my ponytail to bounce from side to side,” she said. “I felt most beautiful when my hair was straight. I didn’t equate my curls as beauty.”
Her relationship with her natural hair began to change in her early 20s when she lived in England, dancing with the Birmingham Royal Ballet.
After a dance injury, she no longer had to wear her hair pulled into the tight bun traditionally required of classic dancers. At the same time, she was surrounded by women in England who embraced their natural hair.
She began what she calls her “curly hair journey,” working with a specialist and learning how to care for and style her curls.
“I got my hair cut properly for one of the very first times in my entire life,” she said. “I started working with it and trying to figure out how I could make my curls really pop and shine. And, slowly but surely, I started to accept and love them. It took time.”
When she went back to straight hair, the heat caused substantial damage. She never did it again.
Hutsell also had examples of natural beauty in the pageant world.
Before her Miss America win, Miss Texas 2023 Ellie Breaux and Miss Texas 2024 Annette Addo-Yobo also wore their natural hair. Addo-Yobo, who was born in Ghana, was the first immigrant-born woman to win the Miss Texas title.
“I felt like I knew I was going to be my most authentic self on that stage, and my curls had a lot to do with that,” she said.
I first met Hutsell after her Miss Houston win when she volunteered at my 10th annual Year of Joy Holiday Ice Skating Party at Discovery Green in December.
She had beautifully coily hair that perfectly framed her face. My daughter noticed immediately. She commented on Hutsell’s hair and how beautiful she was.
For Hutsell, the crown represents more than a personal achievement. It gives her a much bigger platform to tell young girls what she once had to learn for herself: You don’t have to change who you are to be beautiful.
“I feel really, really honored to be a part of a bigger conversation now, and hopefully encouraging and inspiring little girls to embrace the beauty that exists within themselves, too,” she said.
Her journey to the crown began long before pageants.
Growing up in Kingwood, Hutsell studied dance and remembers seeing photographs of pageant winners at a local photography studio. She didn’t know who they were or what they did.
She just knew she wanted to wear a crown.
A summer scholarship through the International Association of Blacks in Dance led to an audition for the Radio City Rockettes, and she earned a spot with the famed dance company. She danced with the Rockettes for a year before the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the industry.
She then moved to England to dance with the Birmingham Royal Ballet.
Hutsell said she returned to Houston to help care for her grandmother, who has dementia. It was also here that she began her rapid ascent in the pageant world, entering competitions for the first time only about a year ago.
Her grandmother’s story makes the Miss America crown even more meaningful.
“My grandmother grew up in Cameron, Texas, picking cotton, then ended up getting an education to become a teacher,” Hutsell said. “She saw her daughter, my mother, become a doctor, and now her granddaughter become Miss America. I know she is very proud.”
I hope more young girls in Houston and beyond can look at that crown, and those curls, and see a little more of themselves in the image of beauty.
Read the article here: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/joy-sewing/article/miss-america-regan-hutsell-hair-curl-22426415.php