All language subtitles for 2-ICT Student Kyle

Hi, Doctor.

Welcome.

How's it going?

Pleasure to be on.

So, we're going to be doing an interview
with you today. Obviously, you've

probably already seen one of the first
ones I've done.

If you would, introduce yourself. Tell
us a little bit about yourself, where

you're from, how old you are.

Hey, my name's Kyle. I'm also known as
JTAPFX on socials.

I'm 32 years old, and I'm from New York.

32? You don't even look 32.

Yeah, I know. Everybody tells me that.

I just got ID'd at the casino because
they thought I was 121.

That's a compliment.

So tell me a little bit about how you
found trading, what you got into first,

what asset class was it first that you
got started with?

Yeah, so I dropped out of college back
in 2011 just because I didn't really

what I wanted to do.

So when I came back home, a buddy of
mine that, you know, he was my best

since kindergarten, he actually
introduced me to Forex.

I mentioned like, hey, we can make money
trading foreign currency. So really, I

started out in Forex.

Awesome. So you've not done anything
like with crypto or futures? I did

in crypto a bit.

I was part of it when it ran up to $20
,000, $25 ,000 per time.

It didn't take profits. And then I kind
of stepped away from the space for quite

a while.

Kind of get my toes wet again.

But obviously, keeping my risk level
kind of low.

Awesome. But yeah, mostly Forex.

Okay. So how is it that you found my
content, Inner Circle Trader Concept?

How did you fall into that niche in this
industry?

Yeah, so funny story is the person that
actually got me into trading, my friend

that lived down the street, I had
already been trading retail concepts for

or six years. I was mostly just...

on Forex Factory, you know, going
through those trading systems, baby

Like James 16, he was mostly just
teaching, you know, price action bars,

know, pin bars, outside bars, things
like that.

And I was doing that for five or six
years unprofitably.

And then it just so happened that my
same friend that got me into trading ran

into somebody at the local bar, and he
had mentioned, you know, he had

recommended me to your work.

So what he had mentioned was, you know,
all the markets are manipulated, and how

he found you was through Google. He
just, you know, typed in central bank

manipulation, and I guess you were one
of the first people that popped up. And

this was probably back in 2015, 2016.

Wow. So, yeah, once, you know, he had
pretty much mentioned to me, like,

everything that you've learned and just
kind of dive into your work.

That's awesome.

How long did you study trading Forex
before you started seeing results that

you motivated or at least gave you the
inclination that you were on the right

path?

Yeah, so honestly, the first five or six
years trading retail was completely

unprofitable. I didn't see any edge in
it.

I couldn't really understand why markets
were moving. Every time I bought it, it

went down. Every time I sold it, it went
up.

back to school because I loved trading.
I wanted to try and get my feet in like

a brick and mortar prop firm.

But I went to like a local school and it
wasn't really known for finance.

So I was studying your free content at
the time and then I joined your private

mentorship. And at the time, you know,
that $150 monthly subscription was a lot

to me.

So it took me, you know, it took me a
couple years because when I first dove

into your private mentorship, everything
It was really new to me. Like, I didn't

really understand the framework behind,
you know, what drove a market. But I was

always interested in the market. Like, I
was watching, you know, documentaries.

I was reading Market Wizard, things like
that. So I kind of had in my mind how

the markets operated from, like, a floor
trader perspective, like, reminiscences

of the stock operator.

I was doing all that research.

And, yeah, I kind of stumbled into your
content. And, yeah, once I joined the

private mentorship,

That was kind of like the beginning.

Previous to that, that was really where
I started learning how to trade.

Previous to me joining your private
mentorship, I kind of scratched those

off like they didn't even exist.

When you joined the mentorship, what was
your first impression when you started

seeing all the different perspectives?

how I teach you as a student and other
students, how we internalize what price

acting is likely to do next. Like, how
did it differ from what you're used to

seeing as a retail trader?

Yeah, so, like, as a retail trader, they
were pretty much teaching, you know,

indicator -based systems. You know, it
was like, you know, this TDI line

over this one, or RSI was, like,
overbought, oversold, you're going to do

without any real context. And it was...

You know, there was no real story behind
it. So when I first started listening

to you on how buy stops and sell stops
and liquidity and inefficiencies, that

kind of, like, put everything into
place, and I kind of understood, all

there's a framework behind the
marketplace, and this is how the

actually booking prices. To me, that
made so much sense because when I was

watching, you know, those videos on
floor traders and everything and reading

Market Wizard, like, all right, now
there's, like, context behind why a

moves. Right, right.

So what markets specifically in FX do
you trade? Like what pairs and what time

of day do you specialize in?

Yeah, mostly the euro and the pound.

I've tried trading the Canadian dollar,
but not so much, you know, it's not my

best pair.

And I'm in New York, so I'm mostly a New
York session trader.

Have you switched during your time as an
FX trader from pair to pair, or have

you always predominantly just stuck to
the ones you're trading right now?

Yeah, so before I met you, I was...
trying to trade every single pair.

You know, if I thought the dollar was
going to go up, I was trying to short,

know, I was trying to short the euro,
the pound, the Aussie dollar, the New

Zealand dollar. I was trying to sell all
of them. It wasn't great.

Okay. Yeah, but then I just kind of, you
know, when you had mentioned that you

really should be a specialist in one
market, and I was kind of reading that

Market Wizard, too, right? There were
people that were just trading bonds and

people that were just trading
commodities.

And it made a lot of sense. I had to
slowly wean myself off and just focus on

couple of markets.

That was actually one of the things that
was complimentary to me when I had

first learned about Larry Williams being
a specialist with bonds and S &P. And

in hearing other really successful
traders in those market wizard books,

comment that I heard was they specialize
in one market or two at most.

And that was one of the greatest
learnings.

I had, too, so it's nice to see my
students have that same thing.

Obviously, I kept a lot of flack for
this as an educator, but did my lectures

the medium of using a demo or a paper
trading account, was that an impediment

all to you learning how to read price
action?

Yeah, see, it never was, and I never
questioned it, because if you open up a

demo account and a live account, the
data feeds the same, right? So it

doesn't... It doesn't really matter. If
I was taking a demo trade or a live

trade, I could have mirrored both trades
in both accounts, and if I was getting

stopped out at one, I was getting
stopped out at the other. So to me, it

really matter.

Okay.

That's going to be a question that keeps
coming up in all the interviews because

I really want to hammer down that that
is not something that anyone should be

concerned about because your results are
unique to you.

Everyone behind you and the guy that was
before you, you're all going to have

your own individual results.

How they come to you matters not whether
you're an educator, me, someone else

you learn additional concepts from.

Their results are exclusively theirs.

So it's important for a student that's
watching and you've experienced it

yourself to pursue your own proof, your
own evidence.

And clearly, obviously, we'll go into
questions later on. But what struggles

you wrestle with?

when you were trying to find your model?
Like, what things did you have to

wrestle with, whether it be personal
character flaws or psychological

things that you were afraid of,
something to that effect? What did you

wrestle with until you found your model?

Really, I was just impulsive and
impatient.

So, you know, when I first started
getting into your content, I really

just be successful overnight. And, you
know, you quickly realize that it's not

really feasible.

And I kind of...

I kind of noticed the same thing in my
career path, too, because as soon as I

graduated, like, one of my friends
helped me get a job, and he never had a

formal education. So me watching him, it
was interesting because he had the

experience, and I saw him grow, right?
And I saw myself grow in that career

as well.

So really just, you know, I had to fight
with my impatience and my impulsiveness

and understand that I had to, like, fail
because...

Every time I learned a new concept from
you, right, there was an actual equity

curve to that specific concept. So when
I first started getting into it, it was

just order block.

And when you're first learning order
block, right, you're going to make

mistakes. You're going to take trades.
You're learning about all those

nuances. And it was like that for every
single tool that I put into my toolbox.

When I first started learning Fibonacci,
you don't just plot it on your chart

and all of a sudden, you know, you don't
get it instantly.

So that was the biggest thing.

just having the patience to understand,
like, this is really going to take some

time. It was hard, you know, because
back then there wasn't a whole lot of

people, you know, using chat rooms and
things like that. So now I find it

interesting because I feel like I've
been with you, you know, through your

growth, and now there's all these little
ecosystems of ITT traders that I can

connect with, and I've really built a
solid network of, you know, people that

can rely on.

And learn with. Right.

When you mentioned that you had
struggles or you were

wrestling with impulsiveness, what types
of things or coping mechanisms did you

employ to get through that when it felt
like it was not going to happen fast

enough for you, like you wanted
overnight success?

I wanted the same thing.

When you had those adversities, what...

What did you do to help get you through
that and keep you encouraged to keep

studying?

Honestly, it was really hard because I
really did not enjoy doing the job that

was doing. I got into construction, and
I really wanted to be in finance.

So when I was going through those
periods, a lot of times I was just

break because I was overloading myself
with trying to learn and trying to make

it work.

But I really needed those breaks to kind
of reset and refuel.

and get back in the zone and get back to
studying.

So that was probably the most difficult
thing was every time I feel like I hit a

peak, you know, there was always
something new to learn. And it always

like, all right, I had something there
and I was working on an edge, but it

still was dull. Like I didn't have the
full skill set to be able to really be

consistently profitable.

Okay.

So in your development, looking back
now, what milestones did you...

reached that you maybe not at the time
of beginning you thought you would reach

or even expected to find, what type of
milestone or success did you find apart

from being profitable?

Like what built you up as a trader? What
kind of, well, achievement did you

unlock, if you will, as a student in the
marketplace? What did you discover

about yourself?

Yeah, so I think I really have to say
that it was part of my career.

I had really focused a lot on my career.
So I was in high -end residential

construction, and when I first started
out, I didn't know anything.

And when I started getting further and
further up the ladder, I started, you

know, working with budgets and higher
numbers and understanding risk and

with clients, like really high -net
-worth clients, like some really

people.

And that kind of shifted my perspective,
and I started treating creating like a

business.

and not so much like a casino. That was
the biggest thing was, you know, I got

comfortable seeing large numbers
fluctuate back and forth and not

much about the outcome because I knew at
the end of the day I might have losses

here, some losses there.

Like relating to my career, right, there
was when we were putting a budget

together for a home, like we would have
some areas where the client was taking a

loss in and then some areas where they
were making a profit. But overall, The

project was successful.

I took that skill set and applied it to
trading.

Learning those risk management skills
was huge to me because not only did I

to see the long -term vision of it, I
could have a terrible week or a terrible

month, but at the end of the quarter or
at the end of the year, I'm going to

come out ahead.

How long did it take you to be
profitable?

your first winning trade, but where you
discovered that you have an edge now

that while it may not be perfect, nobody
has 100 % strike rate.

How long did it take for you to get to
that point where you were confident that

you can claim that you're consistently
profitable?

Yeah, so it was probably three years
after I joined the mentorship.

And I think what changed my
profitability was understanding a model,

model. And within that model, there were
specific tools that I had to implement,

which was, you know, the weekly range,
the daily range, understanding those

things, you know, the Judas wing, the
RAL gas order block. So it really was

a culmination of a bunch of different
things that created a full model because

had tried just using one model or one
concept, and it didn't really, you know,

paint the full picture for me. Right.

When you were studying,

What was your schedule like around your
work?

How much time did you usually devote to
studying?

And what did it look like? What kind of
routine was it? Was it just back

testing? Was it using like a 4X tester
program?

Give us an idea of what it was like when
you were going through that process.

Yeah, so my schedule with work was kind
of hectic. I was probably working 60, 70

hours a week.

So I didn't really, you know, I had to
put my social life on the back burner.

Mostly studying after work and late
hours.

I was getting up for London, staying up
for London, then going into work like a

zombie.

I did do back testing. I forward tested.

A lot of time it was just in the live
market.

A lot of my study was just really a lot
of my free time.

Did you journal? If you did journal, was
it impactful and how did it help you?

I do journal.

Not only is it helpful for like a
statistical edge, I think journaling

emotions and how you're feeling in a
trade is a lot more important than just

getting the statistical edge because
your statistical edge is going to

if you can understand your emotions and
behaviors behind your decision making.

Right.

How do you as a trader handle losing
trades?

So that for me was probably the hardest
thing because I was...

As somebody that's impulsive, I, you
know, over -traded and revenge -traded a

whole lot.

So really just having the discipline to
take a loss on the day and to come back

the next day because understanding that
the market's going to be here, you know,

without me.

Every time I took a break from the
market, you know, whether it was three,

months while I was going through your
mentorship, I always came back and saw

same setup standing out.

You know, I had to get rid of the FOMO
factor, really.

And just focus on an edge over time.

You mentioned revenge trading. For the
listeners that never really traded yet,

kind of walk us through what that means
as a trader when – because I've done

that too. Everybody that's ever traded
with real money has done this before.

from your perspective, what does that
mean when you say that you experienced –

the adversities of revenge trading. What
was that like for you?

Yeah, so really, you have to figure out
what it stems from.

And for me, it was really just me trying
to escape my job. And not only that, I

was a pretty competitive person when I
was younger. So learning how to lose is

really difficult if you're not used to
losing.

Because instead of focusing on the
outcome, you have to focus on the

going through it and making sure you
have a proper model because you know

going to have losses.

And getting through that was probably
the most difficult because everybody

comes in the market wants to be a winner
every single day. It doesn't feel good

to leave your desk and not make any
money.

Right.

So in comparison to how when you first
started learning about this and how you

used the concept and risk management,
the difference between your perspective

taking losses and the hardships that
come with that, both emotionally and

psychologically. How do you view
yourself as a trader now? Do you feel

significantly less emotions when you
take a losing trade? And if that's true,

why is it that you have less emotion now
behind a losing trade?

Yeah, so that was really just a, you
know, a really long working process. So

even, you know, five years ago, it was
really managing my impulses.

Like I was a lot more overweight than I
am now. You know, I was unhealthy.

I was not getting enough exercise,
things like that.

So just really accepting the fact that
you have to be disciplined with

certain things, right? And every time I
was undisciplined, I was always blowing

my account up. So feeling that pain and
feeling the, you know, the desire to try

and make the money back, it always put
me in a deeper hole. So I know that

that's probably a huge mistake that a
lot of people go through is when they're

looking at their equity curve or their
drawdown, is when they really look at

their drawdown period and it's extremely
steep, you have to understand what

that's coming from. So for me, it was
always revenge trading. So the best

that I can recommend for somebody that's
dealing with revenge trading is you

have to understand why you're revenge
trading in the first place and crawl out

of it, not sprint out of it. Right.

That's good.

Obviously, there's a lot of new students
that are finding me, and there's a lot

of people that are in my mentorship that
have not found their profitable model

yet. You, as a student that have gone
through the private mentorship and now

reached profitability, what would you
say to encourage those individuals that

have yet to find their profitable model
or consistency?

I think you really do have to submit to
time, really, because when I first

started trading, I wanted to be a swing
trader, and my personality just didn't.

It took me a really long time to just
understand that I'm impatient and I want

to, you know, it fits more of an intra
-week, intra -day model for me.

So you really have to take time to
understand yourself, first of all, and

understand the concept, and then figure
out your model from there, right? You

can't, it's not very, like, black and
white where you can give somebody a

strategy and say, all right, this is
your model. You know, obviously you

but. If it doesn't, you know, match your
lifestyle or personality, then you're

going to be fighting. You're going to be
wrestling with it for sure.

Right. So you kind of have to just take
your time and understand yourself and

your personality and then create the
model around your lifestyle, right, your

personality, all your weaknesses and
your strengths.

Great points.

Could you describe your personal model
and what specific IPP concepts do you

employ in it?

Yeah, so my personal model is really
just trading the weekly or the daily

within those specific profiles.

So I utilize the economic calendar, and
I'm really just looking for the due to

swing above or below the midnight open
to a specific standard deviation, market

structure shift, and then entering on a
fair value gap. Like 80 % to 90 % of my

trades are probably using a fair value
gap.

Awesome.

So are you a – London trader or a New
York trader, or do you do both?

Just New York.

I've tried to change my sleep schedule
up to get up to London, but my body

doesn't agree with it.

It's very difficult to do if you're not
in a part of the world where it's easy

to do it.

It's a challenge.

Could you walk us through a typical day
as a trader, and how do you analyze it

briefly? What's it like for you to wake
up, start your day?

What analysis do you do?

a routine that you follow, and what
would that be like?

Yeah, you know, it's pretty monotonous.
Like, every week I'm doing the same

thing. So Sunday nights I'm sitting down
at the charts and reviewing my

weeklies, you know, preparing for the
week, looking at the economic calendar.

And then each, during the evening,
during, you know, at each close, I'm

at, you know, previous days' highs and
lows, the session highs and lows, the

narrative behind that, and preparing for
the following day.

I'm expecting you to swing in one
direction or the other.

Could you take some time to give us your
personal comprehensive

opinion in view of what it was like for
you to go through the mentorship and to

use the concepts that I've made
available to the community?

What successes have you had?

What hardships did you meet that you
didn't expect?

that you would have, and just an overall
viewpoint from your perspective, what

it was like for you as a trader going
through it.

Yeah, so I actually was thinking about
canceling my subscription multiple times

because I was really just studying on my
own. I wasn't using the forum. I wasn't

reaching out to traders.

I was just kind of studying and trying
to apply it myself.

And then I networked and met a couple
people that study your concepts.

A lot of them truly helped me a lot.

And they, a lot of them recommended the
same thing. A lot of them just had

mentioned, you know, exit all the chat
rooms, you know, isolate yourself and go

into study.

And that's really where I grew a lot.
Like I stopped watching your weekly

analysis and, because I understood all
the concepts and I was trying to follow

you. And I mean, it was working at
times, but.

I didn't really, like, understand.

You know, it was like you were hand
-holding me, and I had to just, like,

the nest and kind of figure it out on my
own. And that's, like, the biggest

growth curve that I ever had was just
studying by myself because not only were

wasn't being influenced by other
people's biases or headlines or anything

that, you know, I didn't read any news.
Like, I was just me in the chart.

So that was probably the biggest turning
point for me with the mentorship

content.

But, yeah, if I had any recommendations
for anybody that was going through the

mentorship or they're trying to study on
their own, like, really try and reach

out to people that are more experienced
than you because they can provide a lot

different perspective that, you know,
might help you on your journey.

In terms of success, how could one
understand the level of

success that you view you have right

now versus?

what you were trying to do as a retail
trader. Like, are you a funded trader or

do you trade with your own funds? What
has that been like for you?

Yeah, I mean, the prop industry has
really springboarded my trading career,

really, because I was so reliant on my
income from my career.

Like, I was making a good six figures at
my job, so I really didn't have the

desire or, you know, it really wasn't
pushing me to try and, like, go full

trading.

It really was just like my fear of
trying to become a full -time trader.

prop, you know, a lot of traders are
undercapitalized. So managing prop

has really springboard in my career. Now
I'm a full -time trader and I'm making

multiples of what I used to make at my
job.

And it's seriously a dream come true. So
I'm really trying to, I know that

there's some uncertainties with prop
capital. I'm not 100 % sure if it's

to be around forever.

If they regulate it, they might shut
some of them down. Like, I was with some

prop firms that owed me, like, $10 ,000.
They shut down because of ASIC, like,

Australian regulations.

So, really, I'm trying to take advantage
of what I can to withdraw as much money

as I can from the prop firms and, you
know, fund my own personal account.

So, if, you know, if people are out
there struggling with prop firms, they

to understand the statistics behind it,
right? Only, like, 3 % of people make it

to the payout, which is...

Kind of mind -blowing because the
parameters to pass is not that difficult

you're patient.

It's really about keeping it. So instead
of risking 1%, I'm risking a quarter

percent. That way I can have at least
30, 40 trades, losing trades in a row

not blow off the account.

Say that once more. How much are you
risking?

A quarter percent because it's really
just rudimentary math. If you can just

the math behind it, you have a 10 %
drawdown limit. If you're doing 1%,

only allowed 10 losses in a row, and you
can easily lose 10 trades in a session.

Yeah, yeah.

So, you know, a quarter percent is
really 2 .5 % of your drawdown limit,

is still high. Right.

I'm very pleased that you mentioned that
risk.

allowance that you've given yourself for
trading.

So many people stick to this. They want
to build up real quick wins, get those

five -figure, six -figure withdrawals
from funded accounts or their own live

trading. They don't really give
themselves a chance because the effects

trading with real money now, if they've
never done it before, it's going to be a

strong catalyst for them to do things
that are outside the scope of their

or their model.

When you first started trading, did you
have that initially at one time where

you felt like you wanted to go out of
the model's rules because now you're

real money, or did you not have that?

Yeah, that was part of it.

A big part of it was me just saving up
enough money as a nest egg where I

have to worry about my expenses for two
or three years.

That took me a really long time, but it
alleviated a lot of pressure.

having to make money, right? So a lot of
traders are probably going for those

big accounts and want to hit a huge
payout so they can keep their job right

away. And it's really extremely
unrealistic.

Exactly. Give yourself time, build up a
nest egg of, you know, two or three

years of expenses. That way, if you have
a bad month on the funded account, you

don't have to worry about the bills that
you have to pay.

Awesome.

Could you share with us the types of...

wins or success that you had trading
with funded accounts?

Yeah, so I've only been a full -time
trader for like a year and a couple

And it's been a parabolic growth curve
for me. So when I first left my job, I

was managing about $800 ,000 in funded
capital.

And I had enough expenses where the job
was just kind of grinding me down. And I

took the risk and I said, I'm going to
go full -time.

If it doesn't work out in like a year or
two, at least I have enough funds to,

you know, cover myself. And I had built
a skill set where I wasn't really

worried about not being able to find a
job. Like I was in a very niche

So, sorry,

I kind of just lost my train of thought.

Yeah, just going back to, you know,
getting capital, my goal was always to

get the first payout and reinvest it.

My first couple payouts, I think it was
like $20 ,000 or $30 ,000 on $400 ,000

worth of capital. What did that feel
like? I didn't spend any of that money.

Excuse me.

When you had your first payout, what did
that feel like?

It felt really good, and that was really
a turning point in my career where I

was like, wow, these firms are really
paying out a lot of money, and there's

a whole lot of risk up front, unless
you're buying challenges and blowing

and gambling.

Right. You know, the fact that they're
giving you like 10 times your capital,

you try and do that with your personal
account, it's really hard to do. So, you

know, if you're going to invest $2 ,000
and get funded with $400 ,000, like $40

,000 in drawdown limit that you have
now, right? So that was a huge thing for

me. And what I did was I really treated
it like a business. I opened up, you

know, an LLC and I opened up a business
credit card to pay for the challenges.

But I did have the capital.

I wasn't just opening up the credit card
and assuming debt.

I had the capital.

I could write it off against my income,
and I was paying for challenges through

that means. That way, I could separate
my finances and really treat it like a

business. If you're going to go and have
a startup, $5 ,000, $10 ,000 is really

not a whole lot of money to get yourself
going.

I had the money to pay for the expenses,
the liability.

on the back end in case it didn't work
out. But as soon as I got that first

payout, I took all of that money and
just bought more challenges.

So now I'm managing close to $2 million
in funded capital.

Wow. And just, you know, taking a
quarter percent risk across the board.

married? Yeah. Okay.

How is it that you've introduced what
you're doing to your spouse, and was she

supportive initially, and is she
supportive now?

Yeah, so she always knew that I was.

And a funny story is before we got
engaged, I had like a $5 ,000, might

been more, like a $7 ,500 account.

And I completely like almost blew it up.
Like I lost like 30 % in a day. I

withdrew it all and then bought her
engagement ring.

So she always, you know, she always knew
I loved it because I was, obviously I

was up late at night, you know,
listening to videos and stuff. She's

to me in bed. And she's probably
thinking like, oh, this guy's crazy. I'm

even making any money doing this.

She always encouraged me to just keep
going because she kind of knew that that

was something I loved. And I think she
knew it, you know, at the end of the

like maybe this could be something that
I do full time. And the access to

markets right now is amazing, right? I
think when you had mentioned that you

were like plotting the closing price on
graph paper, I was like, man, I can't

even imagine the time when it was like
that. And even like a lot of the younger

kids, like I talked to Taladin.

And I'm like, man, you guys don't know
how good you have it right now, you

Yeah, absolutely.

There's so much action. Even your
content is, like, everywhere now.

I just find it amazing because, you
know, I had mentioned, like, when I was

coming off of this 4X Factory and even
your YouTube channel, I think some of

your videos were only getting, like, 10
,000, 5 ,000 views. Yeah, it wasn't much

view at all.

So you had a spouse that knew you were
speculating early.

She didn't try to talk you out of it.
She just let you have, you know, a run

it. And is she supportive now because of
the results you've been able to show?

Yeah, absolutely.

I think part of it, too, is, like, her
family is not too, they're not too, you

know, they're not too conscious about
money. They don't really talk about it a

whole lot. So, really, she's happy with,
you know, even if I was just working a

regular job, you know. That's awesome.
It's not, like, materialistic or

like that. So that's a huge thing, you
know.

He was a keeper.

Can you imagine the difficulty you would
have had in addition to what you had to

go through, like everybody else does, if
your spouse was against the idea and

vocalized that all the time?

Yeah.

That would have been harder. I mean, I
think, you know, if my spouse was

it, I probably would just quit, you
know.

So you've been very blessed to have
that. That's actually a very good thing.

Right.

What we do, the average person, they
don't look at this and say, That's

something I should do.

They want to do it when they see other
people make money.

And when we are married and we have our
relationships, you know, it's

unfortunately not easy for them to see
what we see as a potential profit or a

potential outcome in the future where we
know that we can use that to kind of

benefit the family itself.

They themselves, many times, they don't
understand. Like, my wife still doesn't

understand it. Like, she just thinks
it's a video game.

I didn't get the encouragement from her.
And I'm so glad that you've had that

opportunity because can you imagine the
listeners that have experienced the

adverse side of what you didn't have to
go through?

Well, so like my, my, you know, I come
from an Asian background, like both my

parents are Chinese. So my dad's side of
the family was always like that. It was

always like, you know, tell me what are
you doing with your life or whatever,

blah, blah, blah. Because I was like the
black sheep of the family, me and my

cousin. A lot of my cousins have PhDs,
and they're doing crazy things. They're

doctors and chemists and software
engineers, and I was kind of like a

dropout. My brother was a valedictorian.

I didn't live up to that, so I always
kind of went my own route, and I feel

that was part of me just constantly
going and trading because I saw the

potential at the end, which probably a
lot of people, I mean, it's there.

I don't know how many people actually
stick with it and see it through,

because at first it feels like it's
impossible.

You have what is referred to as an
entrepreneurial spirit.

So people like us, we don't mind going
off the beaten trail.

And it's commendable that your family
members are in professional, like

and such.

To me.

We need those types of people in
society.

But many times, traders are not cut from
that cloth, and their individual

mindsets are completely different, and
it's just amazing to see what you've

able to do with it. I'm so blessed to
listen to you and share your story and

have the feedback that came through.

Your personal experience, your spouse,
she was supportive. She didn't try to

derail you.

The hardships of having to make a
decision about leaving your job and then

that. Yeah, and that was a huge thing
because I was already in like a top

percentage of income.

So leaving behind something like that
where I had like a future was really

difficult.

That takes a lot of conviction. And
either you believe in yourself and what

are.

about to do or that's a big gamble and
it seems like you've done the work on

deciding whether or not if it was
feasible for yourself and obviously it

like it's doing well for you.

Yeah, it is. I can't thank you enough,
seriously.

Oh man, it's my pleasure.

Did you ever think you'd be trading at
the level you're trading at now when you

first started?

Honestly, no, I didn't. I really didn't.

I honestly didn't think I would be full
-time.

and have the success that I have just
within a year.

Like, it was really eye -opening to kind
of put everything together and it

really clicked for me now. But it was
such a long process of going through

hard times and learning all those
concepts because at first, you know, it

so foreign to me. Like, I didn't really
understand how a fair value gap should

react when price trades into it and
things like that. But now it's like...

All right, now I have a full skill set
that I've built up over the course of

years. And you kind of have to look at
it like that.

If you're going to go through, you know,
even traditional education, you know,

starting out as like an undergrad, you
have to go through all those courses and

stuff just to get your foot in the door.
And once you're in there, you're like,

you're doing these menial tasks.

And, you know, you want a salary that
can cover the cost of living.

You don't really have the experience
behind it. And I kind of experienced

in my career. Like, I wanted to be the
office management guy.

And really, I didn't know anything about
the industry. I didn't know. I just

didn't know anything. So, like, you have
to treat it like you're going through

this process. It might take you four,
five, six years. But at the end of the

day, you're going to have a Ph .D. level
of education that you can now print

your own paycheck and not have to rely
on a job.

That's awesome.

I don't have any personal experience
with funded accounts, and I'm going to

you a question I've been getting from
other people.

What companies have you dealt with that
you've had a positive result and

experience with where they've had no
difficulty paying out and your

was overall good with them? What
companies have you worked with?

I've withdrawn over six figures from my
Forex Fund, FTMO, and the Funded Trader,

and some smaller payouts at True Forex
Funds.

And what's the other one?

I can't remember off the top of my head.

There's another firm, but, yeah, I
haven't had any issues, you know, over

-something thousand from those more well
-known firms. I mean, there's so many

out there right now that I'm trying to
be cautious.

I know there's, you know, there's going
to be risk on some degree, but, yeah,

I've mostly dealt with the top three.
Their support's been great.

A lot of people ask me about the
spreads, and a lot of people complain

spreads.

And to me, I just use a trade copier.

But I'm not using ultra -tight stops,
where maybe a lot of people might get in

trouble. With that, with slippage and
everything, I haven't had any issues

that.

I want to make sure I heard you
correctly. You have been able to

$300 ,000?

Yep. That's awesome. That is awesome.

What company actually opened up with a
funded account? What company was the

first one you... It was FCMO.

Okay. Even like a year ago, a lot of
those other firms didn't have the

reputation that they have now.

Right. That's awesome. And before that,
I hadn't even realized that FCMO had

been around already for like five years
or something like that.

Wow. And it was, you know, it really
changed my training career because I was

the guy that was, you know, applying to
Jane Street or SMB Capital and they're

like... What's your background? Do you
know anybody?

Do you have any experience?

I'm like, I work in project management.
I work in construction.

Sign me up.

Where do you see yourself in the next
three to five years? What's your goals

yourself?

For me, it almost feels like I'm just
getting my training business off the

ground. Really, I have so much to work
on and improve my edge mentally.

Like, with just my entries and exits and
things like that, my risk management. I

mean, it's like a never -ending process.
Like, it feels like I'm never going to

be perfect. And that's what I love about
training is that every time I hit a new

goal, you know, that euphoric feeling
kind of goes away because there's always

something to improve on.

So, I mean, three to five years from
now, I'd love to be managing more

and, you know, kind of have my emotions
more intact because at times they still

get away from me. You know, I'm not.

Perfect. And even some of the best
traders I know, they get frustrated at

It's normal. We're humans.

Well,

I've had a wonderful time talking to
you.

I've had just an immense pleasure
listening to your story. I've watched

other interviews you've conducted with
other podcasters and such.

And it's been just a...

A wonderful experience to be able to say
I had just a small piece of what you

were able to do with all this
information. And I'm so proud to see

done with it. And I'm anxious to see,
really, where you go in those three to

five years. I'm hoping that you keep in
contact with me.

Thanks, Michael. Appreciate it.

Truly an honor to speak with you.

The honor is all mine, sir.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.