From Receptionist to Day Trader: Jeanette’s Trading Journey with IDTA
Interview with IDTA Member Jeanette
In this testimonial Jeanette Buchanan, a life coach, youth mentor, and sister circle facilitator, shares her deeply personal and empowering journey from the world of community support to learning how to trade for the very first time through the International Day Trading Academy (IDTA).
With no previous trading experience, Jeanette opens up about:
- The life-changing impact of risk management
- How structure and support helped her succeed
- The power of community and having a trading buddy
- Why trading is just as much about personal growth as it is about charts and numbers
- The lessons she learned from early losses
- How she overcame self-doubt
Transcript:
So hi. My name is Jeanette Buchanan. I have been a medical receptionist for around twenty years. And over that twenty years, I’ve I’ve always been, really wanting to learn as much as I can all the time, learn about different things. So I’ve become a life coach, a youth mentor, sister circle facilitator.
Empowering women has always been something that’s been a passion of mine. Running celebration days for young girls so that they talk about their puberty and their menstruation, talking about their cycles, and, yeah, really, that’s been that’s my background. Just mostly running circles and helping girls and youth, young young girls. So really passionate about that. I’ve never traded before.
This IDTA is my first time at trading. And how that came about was I ride horses, and Ingela, who is a moderator for IDTA, I used to go out to her place, and we always, you know, have a chat. And she mentioned something about trading, and I just set up always that something I would like to learn in my lifetime, like, you know, an another thing to learn. But I was like, I had really but I just wouldn’t know where to start. And Inglis said to me that, she had just met some people in a new company and for me to just hold my horses, so to speak, and wait till she checked them out and see what she thought of them, and maybe she would take me along.
But she said, give me a bit of time. I I’m just not sure if they’re a reputable company, blah blah blah. So a couple of months went by, and I was back at Ingles, and we were chatting again. And because I was in busting, I wanted to know about this trading thing, you know. And, she said, oh, yeah.
I’ve met them. They’re really nice. I just didn’t wanna put you onto some, like, a bum steer kind of thing, but I’m I’m gonna join them. You know, they seem lovely people and just went into the background of the company, and then she said their names. And I was like, Kel and Cam, like, they’re my husband’s cousin.
Cam is my husband’s cousin. And I was like, you’re kidding me. Like, how could that be? You know? Even I knew Kel and Cam were corporate, but I never actually knew what they did.
We go to family things. I just never knew. And so I was like, well, I can tell you now that I would have no hesitation because they’re beautiful people. They’re honorable. I had no so off I went with Ingla to to one of the things.
And, yeah, they’re just so honest and they have high integrity, so I had no drama with, you know, wanting to go along. So I went and just watched the presentation, and I was just like in. So the rest is history. I’m like, sign me up. Because I just knew they were beautiful people, and I just I just didn’t have that to worry about.
Like, I didn’t wanna get sucked into a company that would, you know, be one of those companies that take your money and, you know, blah blah blah. But I did that was a big weight gone, and I was in. Yeah. So after that, my first impressions when I went to the presentation is that they were very organized. They were they had lots of info, like, so much info, and I was just, like, champing at the bit to get in there.
So I signed up for TBS straightaway. I didn’t do anything little. I’m like, sign me up for TBS. So they’re very helpful. They their support was just amazing.
I didn’t have any and I didn’t get given royal treatment because I was family. I I love that too. I just was still, you know, like everyone. So, I I guess for me personally, I maybe felt a little bit easier if I needed to ask for help, but I didn’t I didn’t either. I just went along the channels that everyone else went along.
So, yeah. So they there was no judgment either. That was another thing I found. I just no matter how long anyone had been trading, when they talked to you, they didn’t come across as pompous or, like, anything you asked with there was no stupid. There was you know, you didn’t feel like you didn’t know because you didn’t know.
We all knew that you didn’t know, but you didn’t you weren’t made feel like that. So I love that too. I’m a real tick box person. Structure, structure, structure, and, you know, their program at the beginning was very tick that box. Yep.
Do that. Tick that box. Yep. And so I love that for me. That’s a good way for me to learn.
And it’s like it was just step by step, and I could just go through the steps. So, what else? I’ve written down a few things here. There was always steps. The content is always being updated.
I do love that too, that there’s always it’s not like you you are there and that’s it. It’s like, no. There’s always something to learn. And IDTA are very, very good at putting out if something they don’t feel that something’s not up to scratch, they’ll change it. It’s just like yeah.
You could be changing and and there’s so many things I do different now that to when I started that yeah. I’m like, if only I knew that at the beginning, but, you know, it’s it’s that’s how it goes, isn’t it? It’s a learning moment. An moment for me in following my journey along was the risk management. I’d have to say that would be the biggest thing at the very beginning.
I was just going for small ticks and have huge risk. And my account went way down because it’s like it it just when I look back at it, I was I’m like, yeah. How could I think that that could work? Because it can’t. So the risk managers meant that was a big moment for me, learning about that.
It made sense to me, and it’s a huge change in how in my training is the risk management. Huge trade. The like, the improvements over time that I’m just writing down things that I’ve written, it it also it builds on itself, the structure in IDTA, but we are building on ourself as well. And that’s what I love. We just keep learning, and you’ve never got it, I don’t think.
I just don’t think you’ve ever got it. With my win rate, I don’t actually monitor my win rate. I don’t care if I was 80% or 20% because I could have 10 trades, eight winners. Two of those winners of the eight could be two or three ticks. So that’s gonna go into my stats as a winner, but my two losses could wipe out even more than I’d won.
So I don’t keep those percentage stats. But, yeah, I just have a good trading plan. I know it. It’s my deal if I don’t do something right because all the times that I do take a loss, usually, I’m not following my trading plan. So that’s a big thing for me, following my trading plan, keeping the noise out.
I was, you know, one of those kids at school that every report card was easily distracted. Easily distracted. And I’m still easily distracted. So I’ve learned, and it’s taken me I have 11 grandkids. I have a huge family.
They all pop in. I’ve absolutely given everyone a warning. Please don’t pop in right now because my house is the house to pop in. You know? I have a grandchild sitting out there.
He’s on a device, which but I’m like, please be quiet. One man does this. But it’s a pop in house, but I have tried over the years to trade with kids in the house. And while I’ve been babysitting and getting frustrated, and that probably took two years for me to work out that you can’t do that. You know?
So it’s I think it’s time, what’s your thing and how quick do you learn lessons. I don’t obviously learn very quickly because I still get you you think you can do it all? And I’m like, yeah. Give me a job to do no matter how hard I can do it. It doesn’t you know, I can do anything if my mind says I can, but you still gotta be reasonable on yourself.
You gotta be gentle on yourself, and you’ve gotta understand that we’re human. And, yeah, you can’t yeah. You just can’t do all that. Like yeah. So that’s one thing I’ve also learned.
My confidence has changed a lot. I don’t panic now. I don’t go, oh my god. What am I gonna do? You know, this trade’s going against me.
I’m I’m like, oh, well, you know, trades I accept losses a lot easier than I did at the beginning. I used to actually kinda take them. I I wasn’t taking them personally from the market, but I was taking it like, how did I fail? Why did I get that wrong? I was doing it to myself.
So I’m a lot calmer now now that I have the, you know, no outside noise. What else have I written down here? I do a lot of macro analysis, like, on the big charts. I try and read the story better than I did before. I just was looking for my signal before, grabbed 10 or 20 ticks.
Now I’m like, where do I think this market’s gonna go? And just because I think it’s gonna go there, it doesn’t mean it is, but I try and have a big picture of where the market’s going to go. And then I map it out. And then if I can go for a higher risk, I like to go for risk to reward now. If I can think it might go up to that 76 or up to that break or up to that liquidity, whatever, I will try and put my target out there.
But then if I get signals going against me, I’ll just lock into where my risk to reward was If it’s giving me signs, it’s gonna come back. So my risk management has changed a lot over the years. That’s something. I’ve had a couple of big trades that have come about by doing that that macro work before by setting my bigger targets. Another way I’ve changed over the years, I’m trying to think how I’ve changed.
I used to hold on to that loss no matter what. So, like, I’m not moving that stop. You can take me out, but I’m not moving that stop. Oh my god. How stupid was I?
Like, you know, like, I’ll show you I’m not moving that stop, you know. Oh my goodness. Because I’m like, don’t strangle the train. Don’t strangle the train, but you’ve gotta be realistic and think, what is the story telling me? It’s telling me that it’s gonna go against me.
And I would sit there and like, that’s telling me that’s reversing, but I’m still staying here. I’m not moving that stop. Whereas now I’m like, it’s telling me it’s going against me. Get out. So that that again has taken years.
And none of this is easy and quick, so that’s another thing I’d have to say to you. None of this is easy and quick. You know? What else have I written here? A way that I that’s the way I’ve changed.
I used to maybe take a few losses, and I wanna stay in there and get them back. Now I’m like, get out. I’m like, just get out. Your head’s not in the right space. You know, no matter what reason I’ve taken the losses, my head’s not either the market’s not, you know, flowing nicely.
It could be range bound, whatever is happening. I’ve just got it after a couple of losses, either I’m not reading the market right. It’s not being normal. Whatever it is, I so I just I get out. But I have stayed hours in the past to get it back.
So that’s definitely I have matured since then. I guess what I could say to you is, you know, follow the guidelines if you are considering joining IDTA. Like, they’ve all been there. Everyone that’s teaching you has been there. I don’t think any of them have not been there.
They know where you are. They know what you’re talking about. They know the pitfalls. They know how you’re feeling. The support, like, I can’t say that it’s just amazing.
The community is amazing. I love for me at the moment, the LTR is too noisy for me. So I’ve had to step back out of it because I’ve had a a couple of months of trading. But I love and crave the community, and that’s why I’m in there. But I find that I’m looking at what everyone saying and doing too much, and I’m, like, not even concentrating, and that’s that easily distracted.
So you have to find what works for you. But I love the community because I love knowing what’s going on, and I love talking to people because they’re all like minded people. They have a great buddy support system, which my buddy, I had met her at the first of the TBS, and I talked to her still every day. And that’s five years. I talked to her, and she’s become my best friend, and I’ve met her once.
Like, we just have such a great connection. She we throw each other you know, if I say, how why do you think this trade didn’t work? You know, we we email each other our trades and stuff like that. And but if I think, oh my god. I just can’t do this anymore.
She’s like, yeah. Come on. Yes. You can. What’s wrong?
And vice versa. You know, we just pep each other up, and I don’t think I’d still be here, to be honest, if it wasn’t for her. So I really love the buddy support system. I just love that. And I think if you wanted to were thinking about joining ITTA, I’d say, yes.
Do it because they actually do care. They they want you to succeed. You know? They’re there for you a %. And the support they’re there to support you.
They reach out to you. Like, they are genuine, honest people. And I’d say definitely definitely give it a go. And it’s about learning about yourself as well. And I’ve found that many times, I’ve I’ve heard the guys say, you know, the markets don’t care who you are, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, and no they don’t.
They actually don’t even know who you are. And I never really thought I had ego, but I really did have ego right at the beginning. And even though I never thought I was about beating the market, maybe at the back of my brain, I was because I’ve always thought I can do it. But you just gotta give yourself the space and time, and it does take time. You’re not gonna do it in twelve months.
I mean, some freaky people might do it in twelve months, but, genuinely, the the normal person, I think, takes years to do. And so I just think be gentle and be kind to yourself, but listen because they do have the knowledge. And even though you might think, oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
But I I will. They might say, you know, dah dah dah dah dah, do this and that. They’re only guiding you because they actually do know. So I think listening to them and taking your time and staying in SIM as long as you can prove it to yourself, Don’t rush to be live. That’s another thing.
It will come if you do all the other steps first. So yeah. I, I love it. I just love it, and I I don’t really see myself not doing it. Yeah.