Women DJs on Breaking Through, Building Community, and Getting Paid: Navigating a Male-Dominated Industry

Three DJs from different backgrounds share how they found their way into DJing, the specific challenges women face, and the strategies that actually work for building a career in a male-dominated industry.

How These DJs Got Their Start

Three DJs from different backgrounds share how they found their way into DJing — from YouTube tutorials to Guitar Center lunch breaks.

Bran Quino started DJing around age 17 but caught interest when she was 12. She began on Virtual DJ, recording sets and uploading them to SoundCloud, then graduated to a Traktor S4 before moving to an XDJ XRX to prepare for club sets with CDJs.

Her godfather was also a DJ and taught her the concepts of beat matching. She filled in the gaps with YouTube videos and conversations with friends.

V started DJing in 2019 after watching a TED Talk. She asked herself what she would regret on her deathbed and landed on music. She learned the basics from a friend who lived up the street, then bought her own XDJ RX2 before upgrading to an Opus Quad to practice on three and four decks.

Val Flurry began taking DJing seriously in 2012. She comes from a family of immigrants with blue-collar jobs, professional athletes, and people in international politics, and she needed to find a way to stand out.

She couldn't afford equipment, so every day during her lunch break at her 9-to-5 she would walk to Guitar Center in Hollywood. She had one hour, spent five minutes walking there, grabbed Wendy's on the way, practiced for 40 minutes, then walked back. She did this every day for six months. Eventually the staff pooled their money together and got her a set.

What Women, Femmes, and Thems Need to Know Before Getting Into DJing

There are specific challenges that women DJs face that men in the same industry simply don't encounter.

Bran Quino warns about being booked as a diversity hire. Pay attention to whether promoters are promoting your sets and your skills, or whether they are just promoting the fact that you are a woman. If they are saying "she's the female DJ," that is a red flag.

Val Flurry points out that women's looks are scrutinised in a way men's are not. If you look good, people will assume you got the gig because of your appearance and not your talent. Comments on skill level get tied to appearance in a way that men simply do not face.

There is also the issue of promoters being creepy. Being a woman around men who don't know how to behave themselves means having to stay on guard more than your male counterparts. Val Flurry adds that what men forget is that collaboration and pleasantness will take you so much further than competition and arrogance.

Real Stories of Misogyny in the DJ Scene

All three panellists shared direct experiences of sexism — from mansplaining sound engineers to being asked whose girlfriend they are.

Bran Quino shared that a promoter was upset she brought her significant other to an event instead of bringing other women. The expectation was that she would fill the room with her girlfriends.

She also played at Musa where the sound engineer mansplained levels and redlining to her. Val Flurry said the most common experience is being asked "whose girlfriend are you?" when you show up to a gig. She recalled playing in San Juan Allende in Mexico, arriving at the venue, and having staff try to have her removed — despite her name being at the top of the poster.

Promoters and bookers have told me straight up that women play better than men typically. So why are they not hiring more? I don't know, but I've heard that from multiple promoters.

How to Network and Get Gigs as a Woman DJ

The panellists shared practical strategies for pitching yourself, building trust, and getting booked.

Bran Quino recommends leading with the fact that you run a collective. If you throw six to seven hour shows, promoters trust you to show up on time and deliver an hour set. Punctuality and involvement in the event go a long way.

Chenise emphasised genuine connection. She cares about people, tries to remember things about them, and makes them feel seen and heard. She believes karmic investment has paid off significantly in her career.

Val Flurry says to just show up. Go to bars and sit in the back. As you get more comfortable, move closer to the front. Show up for people who you want to eventually know. She has seen the most outcomes from asking for nothing and simply supporting others.

On a practical level, record your sets — whether in your bedroom or at a gig — and get them on the internet. Send a mix with a one-paragraph bio and a photo. Val Flurry says if you do just that, you are already doing 90% better than most people.

How to Build a Professional Press Kit

Having an organised, professional kit makes it easy for promoters and bookers to say yes to you.

Chenise built a press kit and added it directly to her email signature. When anyone clicks on it, they can access:

• A one-sheet
• A website
• A folder of photos
• A folder of videos

She got bookings purely from mixes on SoundCloud. She started making mixtapes of love songs for personal reasons and now has seven volumes. The advice is to find something you genuinely like — a weekly mix, a themed series — and keep sharing it consistently.

Social Media Strategy for DJs

Consistency, cohesion, and showing your human side are more important than constant promotion.

Bran Quino posts daily, stays engaged, and responds to the people who follow her. She recommends staying on theme — grittier visuals for a techno show, lighter energy for a house show. Keeping a consistent flow across your social media page matters.

Chenise talks about DJing constantly on Twitter and shares music, mixes, and day-to-day DJ thoughts. She mixes in content from her mental health platform, the You Are Important Project, to add vulnerability. She says giving yourself an identity and showing the human you are is what makes people connect.

Val Flurry recommends choosing three or four content categories — for her it is flowers, music tips, and design — and posting three to four times a week. She warns against making every post a promotion. Show your personality, speak like a human, know who you are talking to, and keep it visually cohesive.

What Promoters and Bookers Can Do to Book More Diverse Lineups

Diversifying a lineup requires active research and accountability, not passive intention.

Bran Quino suggests throwing shows that highlight different ethnic holidays and booking DJs within those communities. It brings awareness and showcases talent that has rarely been given a platform.

Chenise says to do the research. House music came from the queer Black scene in Chicago. If you are booking house music shows and not booking artists who represent that history, you are not doing your research.

Val Flurry focuses on what she can control directly — her sets. She makes deliberate efforts to include queer artists, people of colour, and marginalised groups in her song selections and mixes. When she started DJing in LA there were barely any women and definitely no Black women, so the women who were there started recommending each other for gigs. If you get booked, mention two other women DJs by name.

Promoters and bookers should also reach out to collectives that specialise in minority groups. A collective in Astoria DM'd the support women DJs Instagram asking for recommendations. A single story post resulted in a flood of messages from women DJs looking for gigs.

The Inclusion Rider and How It Works

Artists with platform are using their contracts to hold promoters accountable for diverse lineups.

DJs like Jaguar She and Aluna are adding inclusion provisions to their riders. Alongside technical and hospitality requests, they are asking that the lineup include someone from the queer community, someone of colour, or another marginalised group.

If your excuse is that you don't know how to find these people, a lot of times the artists themselves or their agencies will go the extra mile and provide a list of people. You have no excuse.

How to Set Your Rate and Negotiate Your Pay

Knowing your worth and communicating it confidently takes practice — and talking to your peers helps.

Bran Quino reviews her Venmo, Zelle, and Cash App history to find an average number, then uses that as her baseline. With smaller collectives she starts lower. With larger promoters who can clearly afford it, she gives the number she actually has in mind and finds a middle ground.

Chenise does the same thing. She negotiated $50 more for one recent show simply because she felt the promoter could afford it. She notes that you prep for hours before sets and spend money on music, so your time and effort need to be worth making the trip.

Val Flurry recommends reaching out to other women DJs for guidance on rates, particularly if you are not comfortable naming a hard number. Sharing a range and asking if you should push for more can be more comfortable and still effective.

She also shared that when she started responding to booking enquiries using a name that read as a white male, the offers and the money both increased significantly. She frames it as channelling your inner Chad to get through negotiations.

How Women DJs Can Support Each Other

The most impactful forms of support are the simplest — showing up, recommending, and sharing.

Bran Quino says to show up to their sets. Repost the flyer. Come early and stay late. Share SoundCloud mixes because you never know who is scrolling. If you cannot make a set, recommend that DJ to the next person and vouch for them directly.

Chenise comments on every single post from every DJ friend she has. She shares their music, listens to their tracks, and genuinely gets excited for them. She also plays other women's music in her own sets. She says if someone puts out a track, putting it in your mix is one of the most important things you can do.

Val Flurry says always have three to five female DJ names ready to say in any room where you have access and privilege. Even if their music is not your personal taste, someone else might love it. Giving that opportunity costs nothing.

How to Build Community in the Music Industry

Building community means creating the spaces you wish existed, not waiting for someone to invite you in.

Bran Quino recommends starting your own collective. Throw a couple of parties. Book the DJs you have always wanted to see and bring local talent together. Creating that space is one of the biggest keys to building community.

Chenise says to go to the small local venues and collectives. In New York, venues like TBA have great local music consistently. DM the opener and ask if they have a spot on the guest list. Show up early, meet them, tell them you are just starting out. They will introduce you to their friends.

Val Flurry says if no space exists for you, build it. When she first started in LA she walked into a local dive bar and offered to play for drinks. She started booking people she wanted to be associated with, told them they could have as many drinks as they wanted. People brought friends. Word spread. It grew from there.

The Biggest Challenges Women DJs Face in Their Careers

Balancing life, managing impostor syndrome, and dealing with constant rejection all came up as recurring struggles.

Bran Quino's biggest challenge is balancing work, DJing, family, and relationships. She has had to decline big gigs because of work or everyday life commitments. Her solution is being realistic, blocking out specific days for gigs, and when she does have to sacrifice a work shift, keeping money saved so she can afford to do it.

Chenise works as a nurse educator and gets up at 5:00 a.m., while some weekends she is out until 5:00 a.m. She has been exploring sobriety after finding that drinking led to mental fog and made recovery between gigs too difficult. She has also started saying no to gigs that do not pay well or do not align with her values.

Val Flurry still struggles with impostor syndrome when in rooms with people she admires. She does the Superwoman pose in the bathroom before gigs for 30 seconds to two minutes and gives herself a pep talk. She also names the financial reality — equipment, transportation, appearance upkeep — as a genuine constraint that has a disproportionate impact on women. She also raises the question of what family life looks like as a woman DJ, noting that it has been encouraging to see artists like Aluna George and Smiles Davis continue their careers as mothers.

How to Handle Low Periods in Your DJ Career

Every DJ goes through cycles — the key is using the slow periods intentionally rather than spiralling.

Bran Quino says to use slower periods to work on the things you have been wanting to improve. Practise. Focus on self-care. If you are used to being out until 5:00 a.m., use the slow periods to catch up on sleep and do the things you cannot do during busy stretches.

Chenise says when she is off, she is off. She prioritises rest and checks in with herself about what she needs. She stays mostly sober during busy stretches because she knows she will crash hard the following week if she does not. She keeps a list on her phone of things that make her happy for no apparent reason — one of them is playing with her cat — and turns to it when she is overwhelmed.

Val Flurry took a year and a half completely away from music after burning out. She used that time to reflect on who she is and what she actually wants. She came back with full force. She recommends finding an accountability partner and breaking goals into small chunks — five days, five weeks, five months. Even two things done in the next five days is progress worth celebrating.

Does a DJ Need to Produce Music to Advance Their Career?

The honest answer depends entirely on where you want to go — but producing consistently opens doors that DJing alone cannot.

Bran Quino frames it as a question of where you are trying to be. If you want headline slots, you are really speaking through your albums and releases. If you are happy playing club sets and support slots, producing is still useful and fun but not essential. She is currently moving toward production because she knows it is a key to playing bigger gigs.

Chenise says DJing all the time is exhausting. When you produce, people know you for your releases. You become more curated. You can command higher fees and get onto festival lineups. She also says that since she started producing, she listens to music differently and mixes better. It has deepened her love for music overall.

Val Flurry has been in DJing since 2011 and says that the people who put out music have exponentially grown their opportunities, their income, and the quality of gigs that come their way. She also wants to address the pressure of doing everything yourself. More than half of the male producers out there have ghost writers, teams, and help. They hand off a track at 60 to 70% completion and come back to give final approval. That is absolutely fine. However you get the music out — get it out.

What Makes a Great DJ Set

Passion, track selection, reading the room, and putting in the preparation hours are what separate memorable sets from forgettable ones.

Bran Quino says if you are not genuinely loving the music, you cannot connect with a crowd that loves it. It will show in your track selection. Passion and love are the foundation. Beyond that, the hours you put in watching other DJs and understanding different rooms and crowds build the experience you need.

Chenise says track selection is number one. She would rather hear a technically imperfect DJ with exceptional selection than the reverse. Beyond that, you need to know who you are supporting, what time you are playing, what the night is, and then add your own flare. She does not want to hear what is on the Beatport top 100. She wants to hear what genuinely moves you.

Val Flurry goes back to fundamentals. You need to be able to beat match one track into the next. That is non-negotiable. After that comes song selection and reading the room — knowing what to play based on who you are opening for, the capacity, whether it is a holiday, and a dozen other variables. Women she knows spend enormous amounts of time preparing because they know they have to be three times as good. She knows male DJs who show up and wing it. Preparing is not optional.

How to Get Your First DJ Gig

Everyone started somewhere — and the first gig is often weirder and more humble than you expect.

Bran Quino got her first gig through promoting and selling tickets. A promoter noticed she was posting mixes on SoundCloud and trusted her enough to give her a slot. Her first actual performance was at a teen night. She cautions that many beginners will be asked to participate in pay-to-play arrangements, where instead of receiving a fee, you are essentially paying for exposure by taking on ticket sales risk.

Chenise got her first gig by agreeing to bring a banner with a positive message to an event and DJ at the same time. A friend wanted her there, and that became the starting point.

Val Flurry walked into a dive bar in Koreatown, LA and offered to play for drinks. The owner was just happy to see someone under 55 walk through the door. She and a friend did that for about four months, started inviting other people to play, and word spread to other bar owners from there.

How to Measure Success as a DJ

Success metrics shift over time — and the panellists track growth through skill level, community, health, and releases.

Bran Quino tracks follower growth, engagement, and the calibre of bookings she receives. When the major techno promoters in New York start reaching out, that tells her something is working. She also asks herself honestly: would you travel to hear your own set?

Chenise measures success through her mixing quality and production progress, through how she physically and mentally feels, and through the depth of her professional community. If she is not feeling well, she does not consider herself to be succeeding, because her health is a priority.

Val Flurry was challenged by a friend to put out five releases in 2024. That became her primary KPI. She worked on 20 tracks from that challenge alone and will release five of them. She also keeps a calendar of cultural and musical events each month and tracks which ones she wants to play — in 2024 and planning ahead for 2025. Beyond that, she measures success by community: meeting someone new every other week and showing up for people with no expectations attached.

Summary: Advice for Women and Femmes Entering DJing

Resources Mentioned by the Panellists