Joshi was born in Mumbai to a Gujarati Indian father and a Armenian mother. She was brought up in Mumbai where she attended the Jamnabai Narsee School, and later Vivek College from where she graduated majoring food science and chemistry. Tulip entered the Femina Miss India in 2000. She did not make it to the list of winners but was noticed by many advertising agencies. She appeared in a number of advertising campaigns for big brands (Ponds, Pepsi, Siyaram, BPL, Smirnoff, Tata Sky mobile tv, etc.). She also appeared in a video made as a tribute to Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.