Women Teaching Women

Photo from DTM DJ School, Portugal, 2025

As I write this, yesterday (March 8th) was International Women's Day.

I have always struggled with the idea of International Women’s Day. I mean, for real… just one day? But I also don’t want to miss an opportunity to celebrate women — and in particular women DJs.

I started DJing with DJ software in 2014. Before that, I created meticulously curated playlists for my classes and events using iTunes.

I didn’t switch to Traktor Pro because I dreamed of becoming a DJ. I switched because I wanted the musical soundscapes at my events to be as good as possible.

So I made the leap. And to be honest, it was really hard — though maybe not for the reasons you might think.

Yes, the interface was overwhelming. But there were YouTube videos to help with that. What was hard was walking into music stores or calling Native Instruments for help, because more often than not, I was met with ridicule and condescension.

Why?

Because I was a woman.

I remember vividly being in a music store in Portland buying an NI Audio 01, a niche piece of equipment that allows you to pre-cue without a controller.

Four big men surrounded me and one said, “Do you even know what this thing does?” They all started laughing and mocking me, saying the most sexist nonsense.

I played it cool in the shop. I bought my equipment. I walked outside. 

Only once I was about half a block away did I allow the hot tears of anger and embarrassment to roll down my face.

Then I went out into the world and created a DJ school.

Photo from DTM DJ School, Italy, 2025

I’m not telling this story because I want street cred for learning to DJ “back when it was hard.” In fact, these are exactly the kinds of “war stories” we have worked to remove from our trainings. Nostalgia about how difficult things used to be — and how that somehow makes someone more deserving or more badass — is frankly boring.

What I’m actually here to brag about is something far better: the number of incredible women DJs who have come through our school and gone on to share that skill with their communities in deeply healing ways.

Dance The Medicine didn’t achieve this by creating women-only spaces. We didn’t do it by running ads featuring young, stereotypically “beautiful” women to attract a particular demographic. We simply opened the doors.

And about 80% of the people who walked through were women.

So what was the secret?

Beyond a curriculum that has been honed over many years, the real ingredient was something much simpler:

Kindness.

DTM learning environments are built to support curiosity and confidence — no matter who you are.

Sometimes I think back to the men in that Portland music store and wonder if they ever learned that lifting other musicians up feels far better than the brief thrill of tearing someone down.

But mostly I think about the thousands of dance floors around the world that are now blessed by DJs who happen to be women.

And I’m proud that DTM had a small part to play in creating that shift.

Learn to DJ with DTM at our DJ school in Germany this September 2026.

Want to know more about our other offerings? Check our Full List of Trainings and Events here.

With Love,

Bernice & The DTM Team