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MY STORY
That's me above, trading the wildest markets I have ever seen out of my London apartment back in 2008. Notice the smile, that's because this picture was taken on my first ever six-figure day. Fortunately, there have been other days like that since, but there have been plenty of big losers also; that's the life of a trader.
This trader's life started in Essex, England, and that's where I first discovered I had an affinity for risk. Thanks to the lax safeguards at the “family amusement arcades” of my native Essex, I was shoving coins into slot machines before I had even reached puberty, so it didn’t take long for me to get hooked on that addictive shot of dopamine that our brain cruelly dishes out when we gamble or trade. As a teen, and after I had moved across the globe to Texas, I would get my fix from hitting horse racing tracks, betting on sports, or hosting casino nights (all illegally, of course). It was around this time, and during the dot.com bubble of the late 90s, that I became acquainted with trading, and my 25-year love affair with the markets began.
After getting a brief introduction to the world of finance courtesy of a year spent working at a sketchy stock brokerage, I found my calling when I got my dream job at a proprietary equity trading firm in Austin, Texas, in 2001. Working on a wild testosterone-laced trading floor, surrounded by talk of “killing it”, trading “big size”, and “making G’s”, the environment got the best of me and I managed to dig myself a $40,000 hole after just a few months. Fortunately, I was able to dig myself out of this hole once I learned a little discipline and discovered the magical methods that provide the ultimate edge in the game of trading.
Possessing these secrets, I made quick progress, fulfilling all of my material dreams by my mid-20s. Despite this early success, my lapses in discipline and the cruel nature of the markets meant it has been far from smooth sailing since. Although there have been plenty of ups and downs, I have been fortunate enough to have traded on some of the best trading floors, and with some of the top traders in the business. Over the years, I have traded in all types of market conditions, and have familiarized myself with numerous trading styles and strategies–trading stocks, crypto, and options. I have also had the pleasure of passing down the knowledge I have gained by coaching numerous successful traders and have even owned and run my own prop trading firm.
The last five years of my career have been especially turbulent. I went from scrapping for survival in some of the quietest and most challenging markets in recent history (which meant me adventuring out and exploring other opportunities, such as becoming an English teacher, and CEO of a crypto startup in Poland), to having the extreme waves of market volatility we experienced at the beginning of this decade propel me to the best trading results of my career. Not only have my trading results been all over the map, but I have also taken advantage of the freedom and independence that being a professional trader affords, living and trading from all corners of the globe.
Despite my bumps and bruises, I have never fallen out of love with trading. I still get that buzz as I await the opening of the markets, and welcome the pressure that comes with my pay being based on my personal performance. I love talking about trading and am committed to doing everything I can to help aspiring traders succeed in this cutthroat industry.