From Corporate Finance to Full-Time Trader:
Deb’s Trading Journey with IDTA
Interview with IDTA Member Deb C
Hear Deb share her incredible day trading journey from managing millions in corporate finance and venture capital to taking a deep dive into futures trading with the International Day Trading Academy (IDTA). Discover what drew her back into trading after 18 years, why she chose to fully commit to IDTA’s Trading Business School, and how the power of community and cutting-edge technology have transformed her trading approach.
Highlights in this video:
- Deb’s background in high-level finance and FX trading
- What frustrated her about traditional forex trading
- Why she made the Forex to futures transition
- Why modern trading tools and education changed everything
- The moment she decided to go “all in” with IDTA
- The role of purpose and mindset in trading success
- Why community is critical for long-term growth
Transcript:
Dani: Hello, Deb. How are you going?
Deb: Very well. Thanks, Danny. Thanks for having me.
Dani: Awesome. Thanks for being here. So I think we’ll just start with if you could give us a little background on you, who you are, where you’re from?
Deb: Mhmm. Sure.
Originally, I’m from Malaysia, but I moved to Australia for the past eighteen or nineteen years, part of the furniture. Background, a little bit of me, I’m in corporate finance. I venture capital. I invest into businesses, look into the future numbers and bring them to the next level. You know?
It could be startup not so much a startup nowadays, SME and scale up the account things. So yeah.
Dani: So that’s Wow. Things that are very different to day trading and futures. So what intrigued you about day trading and futures?
Deb: I think this is also part of the investment. I look into it. It’s just different product. You know? Investing is is also investing investing into something that you trust and investing into something that you are able to control.
Dani: Mhmm. And before you came to IDTA, had you traded before in terms of, like, actual trading?
Deb: I did many years ago. Sixteen, eighteen years ago, I reckon. FX, forex trading.
Yeah. Old school. You know? Back then, you know, we trade quite big. When I say big, eighteen, nineteen years ago, we talk about million dollars, the kind of trading.
Dani: Oh, wow. So, like, serious trading?
Deb: Serious trading. Of course, I go into the same demo, before I went into the managed fund, but I manage my own funds and my partner funds, that kind of thing. And, I find that I’m not good enough.
So what I did was I went through a certification on that. You know? I I studied for two years just a stock and trading and all this thing behind the same, behind the bank system, the kind of thing. So I studied it for two years to get that as well, also many years ago. Yeah.
Dani: Mhmm. So then why were you attracted to IDTA, and what were you after?
Deb: I reckon this is something in me. I I like to look into data. I like to look into the number and look into forecast.
It’s just immediate. I I I told myself that I need to come back. I need to really look into it. But most important, I want to be in touch with the with the market, you know, so I know what is happening, what is happening in the economies, you know, that kind of stuff.
Dani: So compared to what you’re doing before, what were some of the biggest challenges or frustrations with your forex journey? And, you know, what were you not that happy with that you wanted to explore what else was out there in terms of trading?
Deb: I think eighteen, nineteen years ago, I I call it old school. I remember we used to use a EA expert adviser, you know, back then, you know, all kind of indicator, you name it, MSCD, Ichimoku, you know, all the kind of things are very familiar with that back then. You know? But right now, in the sense that a lot of things are AI.
You know? You know? You do need to do a lot of things by yourself. You know, it’s like a cooking. You do need to start your cooking from scratch.
The ingredient you can buy and equally good and save you a lot of time. That’s how I call leveraging. You know? How can we leverage into today’s, technology like IDTA? That’s what I like about it.
Dani: Mhmm. So what was the standout thing? Was it, I believe that you came to one of our conferences, and you were intrigued by what you saw. Yeah. Is that right?
Is that how you joined us?
Deb: Yeah. Yeah. I was in an auto two two three year conference, together with my daughter, and I don’t know anything about IDTA. Nothing at all.
So as a third party, you know, and assess the the thing that really, really made me interested is actually, the strengths of the company. You know? The confidence level that, the members or alumni, you call it, from IDTA. And I I I I tell myself, if the company is not strong enough, they will not last for ten years. Longer.
Twelve years now. Twelve years now. Back then was I remember it was ten years now. I got a new year. And and I speak to some of the people there, and I can see the kind of value they carry into them.
You know? There is something in them, and that’s made me interested, and I want to find out more.
Dani: Amazing. Love that. So tell me, how has your trading changed from your forex days, and what are you implementing now that’s very different? And, yeah, talk a bit about that if you could.
Deb: Yeah. I in fact, I wasted a year. You know? I got to know IDTA end of two zero two three.
I didn’t do anything until 02/04, and I decided to come back this year. And I said when I decided, it means I need to be very serious. So I took one year off. I took sabbatical leave for this year and and really, really want to see, sit down, and and and really learn about IDTA. And that is how make me sign up for TBS (Trading Business School).
Dani: Trading business school. You’re all in. What’s been your experience been so far?
Deb: So far, I think February started on February. January was just overall February start on that. And so far, been doing well.
And I attended, LTR quite a lot on on U US close, especially. And say nothing the reason say nothing is observing is is number one for me at the moment. Learning is still number one for me. But, of course, because of the effects, we have a little bit of background in looking certain thing. But, again, I can’t use it too much because it’s old school again.
A lot of thing I need to erase and relearn again, you know, relearn certain thing. There’s a process for you of embracing new information, maybe unlearning some things that aren’t relevant. As you said, it’s a bit old school what you learn, so you’re looking for more modern fresh ideas of seeing the markets.
Dani: Yeah. That’s right.
Deb: Especially with IDTA, you had come with an indicator to count them, which is, as I said, you know, you do need to cook the food from the scratch. You know? The ingredients is there.
You know? You just use it and cook it and microwave it, whichever the result is the same.
Dani: So what would you say to anyone that is thinking about joining IDTA, but they’re on the fence, not too sure? What would you say to them?
Deb: I always say don’t go to YouTube there and look for some free information.
Don’t do that. Don’t do that. You can’t do that. Don’t do that yet.
You can put it down. Listen. You can get excited about that, but that will never give you a proper educations. If you’re very serious about that, then they take seriously into proper educations. You know?
You can’t invest zero and get million dollars. You can’t do that. Well, you pay for what you, you know, you get what you pay for. Right? If you’re just looking for free videos and hoping to do well, it may be a bit of a struggle.
I mean, some people do, but, you know, good luck Yeah. With that. So Yeah. And, also, most important is a purpose.
Why you do what you do. It’s so important. I always ask myself, why do I do it? Why there’s so many way to invest. Why I choose it?
Why do I do what I do? And the purpose. So for me is I have a purpose when I trade something, so I work backward.
Dani: Reverse engineer. Why are you doing something? I’m the same. I do exactly the same. I love that.
Deb: Yeah. When you reverse it, then you you you know where to hit the support.
Dani: So would you recommend IDTA to others?
Deb: Hundred percent.
I would think that people that where do you put your heart rate is where you prosper. Also joining a large community as well.
Dani: Right? It’s not just about learning to trade. Like, we’re a very, very large community of traders, and trading can be a very lonely journey. And we’ve tried it before, so you understand that. So trading with others, it’s more fun, isn’t it?
Deb: Yeah. I think community is the biggest one of the biggest contributions to the success. You know? And and strong community.
It’s not just we have millions member, and I’m talking about quality. I’m talking about community. Quality community is so important, and, yes, IDTA, I can see you have that kind of quality.
Dani: Right? It’s not just about learning to trade. Like, we’re a very, very large community of traders, and trading can be a very lonely journey. And we’ve tried it before, so you understand that. So trading with others, it’s more fun, isn’t it?
Deb: Yeah. I think community is the biggest one of the biggest contributions to the success. You know? And and strong community.
It’s not just we have millions member, and I’m talking about quality. I’m talking about community. Quality community is so important, and, yes, IDTA, I can see you have that kind of quality.
Dani: Yes. We definitely attract a certain, mindset of individual or like minded, you know, which is so wonderful to surround yourself with, you know, with like minded individuals.
So, again, they ascend all levels. You know? All levels of life.
Deb: I agree.
Dani: Thank you so much for joining me today, Deb, and and sharing your story, and I wish you all the best.
Deb: Thanks, Danny.