#608: Build Confidence & Consistency in Trading with Diana Perkins & Forex Coach Andrew Mitchem

Online Forex Trading Course

Build Confidence & Consistency in Trading with Diana Perkins & Forex Coach Andrew Mitchem Podcast: Find out more about Blueberry Markets – Click Here Find out more about my Online Video Forex Course Book a Call with Andrew or one of his team now Click Here to Attend my Free Masterclass #608: Build Confidence & Consistency in Trading with Diana Perkins & Forex Coach Andrew Mitchem In this video: 00:31 – My trading chat with Diana Perkins. 00:56 – Andrew & Diana trade different markets but share a common philosophy. 04:15 – Risk management and psychology. 05:27 – Removing the hype around trading. 13:15 – Lot size, risk, demo and live trading. 19:14 – Technical trading and News Trading. 22:05 – Trading FX, Metals, Indices, Cryptos and Commodities. 25:15 – Using currency Strength and Weakness. 27:07 – Fitting trading around your lifestyle. 32:05 – Enjoy your trading. 38:20 – Trading via a Prop firm. 39:25 – Knowing that you have the knowledge to trade for yourself. 42:22 – Contact Diana Andrew Mitchem One of the best ways for you to learn how to trade properly is to listen to conversations between experienced traders. So today I've got something really special for you. Just yesterday I had a chat with Diana Perkins from Trading with Diana. We trade different markets, but we both share the same philosophy, and it's going to help you massively. Andrew Mitchem Let's get into that more right now. My trading chat with Diana Perkins. Andrew Mitchem Hey traders, Andrew here at The Forex Trading Coach with video and podcast number 608. For 40 minutes you're going to get absolute gold with my interview with Diana Perkins. Let's start straight away. Everybody, it’s Andrew Mitchem here at The Forex Trading Coach. Absolutely thrilled today to be joined by Diana Perkins from Trading with Diana. Welcome along, Diana. Nice to see you so much. Diana Perkins, CPA And thank you for having me. Andrew & Diana trade different markets but share a common philosophy. Andrew Mitchem Awesome. Well, look, we got put together because I think someone thought that we would have a great education and insight to help people, because although we do slightly different things, I think our philosophy of trading and helping people is something that will align really well for people watching and listening to this. So maybe first of all, Diana, if you could introduce yourself, who you are and what you do. Diana Perkins, CPA Absolutely, and I agree with the person who connected us. I'm really excited for this conversation. So, Diana Perkins, I'm the founder of Trading with Diana, which is an educational platform where I teach everyday people how to trade the market with confidence. I do this through workshops, personalized coaching, and newsletters, and it's honestly the best part of my day. I spent a good part of my career trading and mentoring and coaching others in the space, and recently launched my own business so I can do this full time. Andrew Mitchem Awesome, awesome. So, when you coach people, what kind of markets do you generally look at? What do you help them with? Diana Perkins, CPA Yeah, it's typically the US equity market and we're focused on stocks, ETFs, you know, some index funds and, for a small subset—although it's growing—options trading, which I don't normally market. But I did used to be a professional options trader. I love it. There's so much that you can do with stock options. So focus in those areas. But it's really all market conditions, which brings up—I actually just spoke with a trader this morning about that—just looking almost, you know, the last nine months in review, but all different market conditions across all different sectors. It's really a flexible approach. And you'll hear me say that investing, it's very individual. Andrew Mitchem You know, I was reading your background about how you started when you were young with charging—I think it was the interest—some borrowings and things like that, and it was like, that was really cool. I love that whole story. So I'm guessing you've been into, like, the financial industry or business for most of your life? Diana Perkins, CPA Yeah, absolutely. So as long as I can remember, I was a numbers girl. At eight years old, I learned what compound interest was, and when my family found out I had a little bit of, you know, petty cash, they started asking me for money. So I charged interest because that money could have been earning interest in the bank account. So, yeah, from an early age, I always knew finance was my passion. Throughout my career, you're right, I spent about 20 years in various roles in the finance industry. But it was really a class I took in college where we had a virtual stock exchange competition. I'm very competitive by nature, and I wanted to win in order to understand what moves the markets. And so that's how I learned. I knew this is what I wanted to do, but I wanted to do it on my own terms—if you want. But, so what I did is I got my finance and accounting degree, my CPA, did corporate job, and then ten years in, I went out on my own to learn how to trade stock options and never look back. Risk management and psychology. Andrew Mitchem So that's interesting because I'm guessing with that kind of background, you learned either the hard way or straight away about risk as well, because I find it interesting that, you know, we're in—especially myself in the forex market predominantly—we're in this industry where people think risk is like, you know, they have to risk everything, or “I don't want to do it because it's too risky.” I'm guessing that we're both completely the opposite, and we're both very conservative and risk-averse in how we trade. And I'm guessing that with your business, it's the same thing. Diana Perkins, CPA Yes. I would say that's an area where we're probably very similar—where it's not—but risk management, that's what keeps you in the market long term. Yeah. Really kind of the sexy side, I think, of trading, which is why I think a lot of trading education or, you know, just when I say that, I say it loosely—like YouTube videos and things that, you know, the masses are looking at—they don't really hone in on that as much. Like 80% discipline and mental and managing our emotions in trading and sticking to a structure and plan and building that consistency over time. Removing the hype around trading. Andrew Mitchem Yeah, and like you brought the word emotion into that. I think that's such a—I've always said to people when they start, there's two things you've got to control. One's up here and the other's in here—your head and your heart. Your emotions are such a massive part of trading. And I see the danger, you know, with YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram—all that type of thing—you know, there's a little bit of okay information out there. There's obviously a lot of bad information. People always show you the flashy red Ferraris and the private jets and “look what I did on this trade, I made 50%,” but we both know that behind the scenes, that's not real. But unfortunately, a lot of people get, I suppose, caught up in that roller coaster of thinking they're going to make a fortune straight away. And I noticed on your site—and there’s one thing I also say—you had a section on there “who this is not for,” and I thought that was really interesting and good because we're both upfront and honest. We're here to help teach you, but if you want some ridiculous, you know, gain, you're not going to get it with us. Diana Perkins, CPA That's right. That's absolutely right. And I think a lot of what's out there—I agree—there are a lot of folks who want to say how, you know, they see that one story, like you said, with the Ferrari, right? “Oh, I want that. How do I get that easily and quickly?” Yes. It's true—like anything in life—you need to put in the investment upfront, and it's not even, you know—I mean, some of it, yes, dollar-wise—but the investment of time and your energy to really learn how to do it right. And I think there's like this misnomer out there that—and you do need to make that investment—but you don't need, you know, millions to start. You don't even need thousands to start. I mean, right. And I have a feeling you and I could get really into this, but right now the markets are more accessible than any time before. Right. You can open an account in, you know, 15–20 minutes. You can start with dollars. You—you know, you can't afford a $500 share of Microsoft? You can buy a fraction share on many of these platforms. So it's so accessible. But you do need to make that investment upfront on education because you don't want to get whiplash. And you don't want to lose money in a trade because you put in the order backwards. You know, you want to do it because maybe you called the market wrong. So, so many learnings—I'm sure you could attest as well, having been, from what, 15 years. Andrew Mitchem So would it be fair to say that it's the learning how—like the how to do it—that is the most important thing right now when someone starts, or even if they've been doing it for a long time and have failed? It's the learning properly, the “how to.” Because I say to people, if you do that upfront, forget about the next six months or even the next year. You know, use that time as your learning process—your learning phase. And if you do that right, then afterwards things will be really good, you know, financially. But do that groundwork—that hard work—upfront. Learn how to do it properly and to a low risk. Learn what sort of person and trader you are, and the results will follow. Diana Perkins, CPA Yes. And actually that last piece that you just mentioned—learn the type of trader that you are. We all have a different and personal relationship with money.