Meet Cat Willett

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Cat Willett. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Cat below.

Alright, so we’re so thrilled to have Cat with us today – welcome and maybe we can jump right into it with a question about one of your qualities that we most admire. How did you develop your work ethic? Where do you think you get it from?
My work ethic comes from the understanding that if I don’t make things happen for myself, nobody else is going to. I believe that hard work will bring about opportunity, and I try to always keep that top of mind, even when I feel like giving up!

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I am a Brooklyn-based artist. I have written and illustrated, and published two full-length books, as well as two mantra card decks. As author and illustrator of the graphic biography Queen of Wands: The Story of Pamela Colman Smith, the Artist Behind the Rider-Waite Tarot Deck, (Running Press, September 2022), I tell the story of an often overlooked artist from history. My second book is the forthcoming Women of Tarot, An Illustrated History of Divinators, Card Readers, and Mystics (Running Press, June 2024).

I am fascinated by tarot as a facet of art history, and the women behind its evolution. I’ve dedicated the last few years to telling these magical stories in my published books.

I make illustrated comics about parenting, motherhood, gender, and animals, and am a regular contributor to the Washington Post. I also love to work with brands to make retro-inspired artwork that uplifts others through bold, vibrant imagery. My comics channel personal experiences with pregnancy and postpartum, as well as other topics like travel and animals.

I hold my MFA from the Fashion Institute of Technology in Illustration. I received her BFA from the University at Buffalo with a minor in Art History and also studied at the Scuola Lorenzo de’Medici in Florence, Italy.

While not drawing, you can find me hanging out with my dog Bowie, my teen stepson, my new baby, and my partner in Brooklyn. We love to thrift, travel the world together, and are on a mission to try every Thai restaurant in NYC.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
Work ethic Patience
Openness

Before we go, any advice you can share with people who are feeling overwhelmed?
When I feel overwhelmed, I try to work with my hands. The mind-body connection is so powerful, and moving your hands around a tactile material can be so soothing. Whether it’s by making stained glass, knitting, or writing in my journal, getting my hands moving can usually get me out of a rut and help calm my nerves.

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