Before all the cars, watches, houses, jets, and money, I was just a kid at Dunkin’ Donuts, trying to figure out how to get out of there. I graduated from high school in 2018, and at that moment, when I received my diploma, a timer started ticking in my head. I had three years to figure out a career path that could lead to a business and allow me to earn at least $70,000 to $100,000 per year, so that in the eyes of my family, I wouldn’t be considered a failure. It’s important to note that I didn’t have a college degree, and even if I were making more than $100,000 a year without one, it still wouldn’t be considered success in their eyes. This made me furious internally because I didn’t want to go to school, and I knew there were other ways to become successful without obtaining a degree
The very next morning after my graduation, the first conversation I had was with my mom and dad, mainly my dad. He wanted to know what my next steps would be, and I had to come up with an answer right away because my parents, who are immigrants from Cuba, had been through significant hardships to give me a better life. My dad had fled Cuba on a raft, spending seven days at sea before reaching Key West, where he was taken into custody and went through a legal process. My mom hid in a plane. Taking a break from school was not an option for me because of their sacrifices. Consequently, they immediately enrolled me at Miami Dade College, so that I could begin working towards a Bachelor’s Degree in Criminal Justice. My dad’s goal was for me to become a police officer, as he believed it to be one of the most secure and well-paying jobs in the country.
Up until that point in my life, I estimated my net worth to be around $20,000 to $35,000, even at the age of 18. I didn’t acquire this wealth solely from working at Dunkin’ Donuts. While many people know me for my Dunkin’ Donuts story, there’s a lot more to it. At 18, I already understood the importance of having a millionaire mindset, and one of the key principles is not relying on a single source of income. So, I diversified my work. I worked as a bicycle taxi at the fair on Friday and Saturday nights, and I worked at Dunkin’ Donuts on weekday mornings. The money I earned from both jobs, I would invest in ATVs and dirt bikes. I would buy vehicles with blown engines, repair them, and sell them. I partnered with a friend who had mechanical skills but lacked the funds to buy the vehicles, so we split the profits with a 60/40 split, with 60% going to me since I provided the money, and 40% going to him since he handled the mechanical work. Additionally, I would sell leftover donuts, bread, croissants, and bagels from Dunkin’ Donuts to farmers, who would then use them as feed for their animals. My uncle, who lived on a farm, helped me with this endeavor.
But I knew what I was doing was only temporary. All those endless hustles, late nights, and early mornings were to save enough money to invest in a scalable business. However, I hadn’t figured that out yet. So, until I had a plan, I decided to go to college just to make my parents happy. Two months into my criminal justice career, not only did I hate it and realize it wasn’t for me, but I was also failing the classes so badly that the professor approached me and said, “There is no point in you coming to class anymore. Even if you get As or 100% on every assignment from this point forward, you still won’t pass.” This was a shock to me, not only because I would face my parents’ disappointment when I told them I failed, but also because I realized I had been wasting my time in class, either sleeping or making jokes with my friends. Furthermore, I hadn’t figured out how I would make $70,000 to $100,000 a year without a degree, and the pressure from my family intensified my fear. Little did I know that the next people I was about to meet would change my life forever.
After the professor told me that, I followed his advice and never went back to class. I still went to the school campus, but only to figure out what I wanted to do with my life. For about two weeks, I went to campus and watched YouTube videos on how to make money online.
I had three different career paths/industries in mind, and I was waiting for a sign or something that would help me choose one and give it a try until I succeeded. I was considering Amazon drop shipping, Forex day trading, and stock day trading. I was leaning towards stock day trading because it was the most well-known option at the time, and in order to open a live account, you needed to have $25,000. Luckily, I had around $30,000 in liquid funds that I had saved up from hustling throughout my senior year and the summer. However, right before I made the decision to pursue stock day trading, I ran into one of my old high school friends whom I hadn’t seen since graduation. He noticed me looking at market charts and asked, “Oh, you’re trading forex too?” I explained that I was actually planning to deposit money into my stock trading account at TD Ameritrade, etc. That’s when he informed me that his “mentor” was teaching him how to trade forex and was hosting a free live event that night. He suggested I join him so I could learn as well. Intrigued, I thought, why not? I was already considering stocks, so I decided to see what forex was all about. Little did I know that this impulsive decision would change my life forever.
Unbeknownst to me, I was invited to an IML (iMarketsLive) event, which turned out to be a multi-level marketing scheme using forex trading as a way to attract people and sell them courses, among other things. I attended the event and became convinced that forex was a better option for me than stocks. I saw a supportive community and learned that forex trading operated 24/5, didn’t require a minimum deposit of $25,000, and had other appealing features. That same night, I joined IML and purchased their academy. The academy provided excellent educational material for beginners, and it taught me a lot that I couldn’t find on YouTube.
While the information on YouTube was basic, the academy organized it all in one place, saving me a lot of time. However, after completing the full online course, I realized that I needed to learn more in order to continue with forex trading. At that point, I had only lost about $500 from trading since I was still learning. So, I attended more events and sought additional trading advice and knowledge. Unfortunately, I encountered the same sales pitch that convinced me to join their academy, but this time they were urging me to recruit people. It was then that I realized IMLs focus wasn’t on trading but on marketing. Nonetheless, I had learned about 35% of the basics thanks to them, which allowed me to continue learning and developing my own trading strategy. After that realization, I left my old high school friend at the event and never went back. Little did I know that my true trading journey had only just begun.
In the middle of 2018, I officially embarked on my journey as a forex trader. I remember going back to my parents’ house, retreating to my little corner in my room, and feeling a sense of loss as if I were back at square one, learning to trade with a strategy. For the next year of my life, I dedicated EVERY SINGLE DAY to trial and error with different strategies, attempting to build a profitable forex trading strategy. I tried scalping, day trading, swing trading, order blocks—literally everything in the book—but nothing seemed to click. By this point, I had lost around $10,000 on courses and blowing up accounts, all while working a job and pretending to attend college to deceive my parents. Despite feeling heavily invested and unwilling to quit, I observed other traders achieving daily results, which proved that success was possible.
I persevered for another whole year, continuously experimenting and making mistakes, resulting in a cumulative loss of $30,000—a significant portion of my savings at the time. I was devastated and truly frustrated, but I knew I couldn’t give up because my 21st birthday was only six months away. I had promised myself that by that time, I would have a career or a business generating $70,000 to $100,000 per year to compensate for lying to my parents about attending college and not having a degree. The next six months would change everything. One night, consumed by frustration and the need to figure out what I was doing wrong, I realized that I had been journaling my trades since day one, collecting a wealth of data about myself over the past two years. Yet, I had failed to utilize this valuable resource. After analyzing all the data, I discovered a pattern of mistakes I made with every trade, and I never learned from them or made adjustments. Making this minor adjustment completely transformed my trading results.
I was no longer losing on every single trade; instead, I experienced break-even weeks, followed by break-even months, and eventually, winning weeks and winning months. By consistently adhering to my trading plan and rules for three months, I left behind my unsuccessful trading journey and embarked on a new path as a profitable trader. After three months of maintaining discipline, I achieved a major milestone in my career—I received a $28,000 payout from a prop firm. From that day on, my life changed forever. The two years of relentless work had finally paid off, and this marked the beginning of many more payouts to come. With the newfound success and financial stability, I felt invincible, like a king. I had acquired a skill that no one could take away from me. Naturally, I began flaunting my achievements on Instagram, showcasing the luxurious items that forex had allowed me to buy and how I had left my job behind for this new lifestyle. The news spread rapidly, and I started gaining recognition from industry figures due to my results and the story behind my journey. It was at this point that I decided to reveal to my family that I had never attended college and that forex trading was now my career. However, their reaction wasn’t what I expected. Rather than being overjoyed or happy for me, they were concerned because they saw it as a “high-risk” endeavor. This deeply frustrated me. All I had done was throw fuel on the fire, intensifying the situation. Consequently, I began having $10,000 days, $30,000 days, and even $50,000 days. My strategy and skill set started gaining traction, with hundreds of people learning to trade like me. I indulged in buying supercars, expensive watches, and constant partying, spending all the money I earned. However, it was during a moment at the gym that everything truly hit me. A stranger approached me and expressed gratitude, thanking me for teaching him how to trade forex through my Instagram and YouTube content. He shared that because of what he had learned and the trades he had copied from me, he was able to purchase a $250,000 Maybach. In that instant, I realized that I not only had a successful strategy but also a newfound passion for changing the lives of others by sharing the skills I had diligently developed. If I could share my knowledge, make money for myself, and help others make money, I would be extremely happy. Thus, I embarked on a mission to teach as many people as possible about this strategy, ensuring they could achieve financial freedom and live a life like mine. My goal was to retire and live on an island for the rest of my life, and I was determined to make it a reality.
May 25, 2023
7:38 pm
