Let’s Taco ‘Bout Gatekeeping.

By Shelly Flash

Honestly, gatekeeping sucks.

Over the years I’ve had countless moments where getting an opportunity felt less like being invited and more like trying to sneak in through the back door, following people to events, asking someone who knows someone who knows someone. Or sending the email, then the follow-up email, then the DM, just to say one simple thing: give me a shot.

Now before anyone jumps in, I understand the other side. Not everyone can be let into every event. There are brands to protect, logistics to manage, and standards that need to be upheld. Nobody wants someone showing up unprepared or embarrassing the event. I get that completely.

But at some point, the filtering turns into something else entirely. It becomes gatekeeping.

The frustrating part is that gatekeeping often has nothing to do with quality, talent, or effort. It becomes a closed loop where the same people get selected over and over again.

For example, we’ve applied to the Governor's Ball multiple times and never gotten it. We were invited to the US Open at one point, only to have the invitation taken back. We’ve even been invited to do a music festival one year, and the following year we weren’t included.

So you start asking yourself: what systems are actually in place to decide who gets these opportunities?

Because it clearly isn’t always about the quality of what you do. It’s not always about your tenacity or how hard you’re working. Sometimes it’s simply about access.

Take something like CultureCon. You email, you reach out, you try to connect with someone who knows someone who can introduce you to someone else. And it makes you wonder: if these spaces are supposedly for the culture and for the people, why is it so hard for the people actually building culture to get a chance?

Sometimes all someone needs is an opportunity. Let them pay the vendor fee. Let them do a tasting. Let them set up and prove themselves. If someone is motivated enough to apply, reach out, and keep asking, that already says something about them.

The vendors who aren’t ready usually fall by the wayside on their own. But when the same lineup gets selected year after year after year, nothing new grows. Nothing new gets amplified. The ecosystem stays small, stagnant, and safe.

That’s what gatekeeping really does. It protects comfort, not excellence.

So yes, gatekeepers get on my nerves. If anyone wants to step forward and explain why the same people get picked every single year while everyone else keeps knocking at the door, I would genuinely love to hear it.

Because sometimes all someone needs is one shot.