We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Maithili Joshi a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Maithili, thanks for joining us today. Can you talk to us about how you’ve thought about whether to sign with an agent or manager?

Yes, I do have an agent. I work with the wonderful Chad Beckerman at the CAT agency. I landed my first book and the art director I was working with suggested that having representation would help me a lot in the long run. I started seeking representation in April 2022. I did some research and looked into what different agencies had to offer and what kind of artists they represent. In the middle of all this, Chad and I met over instagram and took our conversation of possible representation to zoom/email. I found that Chad not only understood my work and goals but had a lot of great advice and inputs to add. I signed with Chad over the summer and it’s going great!

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My name is Maithili Joshi and I’m from Pune, India now living and working in New York. I graduated from the School of Visual Arts in May 2022 and am now working as a junior designer at Scholastic while also taking on picture book projects.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

I don’t think I’ve ever unlearned a lesson/skill. I think it’s more of learning it all and then taking away only what’s relevant to you. That was basically my college career.

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

I listen to the Illustration Department podcast regularly! Giuseppe Castellano brings in some really great guests who speak to picture book makers, animators, designers and more. It’s lovely and I would highly recommend listening!

Contact Info:

• Website: maithiliart.com
• Instagram: @maithiliart
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maithili-joshi-3233161a4?trk=people-guest_people_search-card