As inspired by PipMeHappy’s thread, “Why we need more (good) female traders,” we thought we’d put the spotlight on some our very own lovely lady traders!
Since we only have a handful of active female traders on our forums, we decided to go around and reach out to them to learn more about what drew them to forex trading and what keeps them hooked.
But before anything else, let’s get to know them a bit more!
@justshell
We have seen justshell further grow as a trader in the 2 years that she’s been with us. She’s calm, collected, and practical, which gives her a boost in her race towards becoming a consistently profitable trader. Of course, she also makes it a point to help out other members with their questions, and at the same time, learn from their experiences!
@ria_rose
With her positive and lively attitude, ria_rose has never failed to brighten up our forums in the 1 year she’s been with us. She’s very open about her experiences and keeps us updated with her trading journey through her thread: I’m trying out the HLHB system!
@lillyw91
A fresh face on the forums-- Lilly’s probably the newest member among our participants for today. Nonetheless, her warm and friendly demeanor allowed her to easily blend into the community. In the months that she’s been with us, she has certainly forged good bonds with some of our regular members and is very excited to share more about her forex adventure with us!
@CoinLady
Although the Bitcoin hype brought her here, forex trading made her stay. CoinLady has become a very helpful member of the community, sharing her thoughts and opinions on multiple topics. She’s currently trying out one of the most popular systems on this forums, the “3 Ducks Trading System,” and she happily shares her trading progress with us, looking forward to learning more about forex trading.
Without further ado, let’s hear what these four lovely ladies have to say!
1. How were you introduced to forex trading? Have you always been interested in the financial industry? Why or why not?
Justshell:
Hmmm, let’s see. Well, initially forex is something I came across on social media. I think it was someone in IML (IMarketsLive- marketing Co.) that promoted this lavish lifestyle that he had because of forex. That was back in my affiliate/network marketing days, which I gained no success from at all.
So, that’s when I started doing my research on forex. I had even created a BabyPips account to start learning (back in 2015 I believe). I briefly read through the school, but definitely wasn’t as focused back then like I am now. Eventually, I just stopped studying forex altogether and got back into affiliate marketing. I was trying that out for about 2 years before a good friend of mine brought up forex to me again, so I decided to give it another shot. I currently work at a financial institution as a data analyst, so I figured forex would be a good side hustle for me.
I’ve currently been trading demo for almost a year now. I spent majority of 2017 just studying the forex industry and concepts, and started demo early 2018. I’m doing well so far, and focus mainly on price action, support/resistance, supply/demand zones, just straight up technical analysis. I pay attention to fundamentals also, which his very important because depending on what the news is, I avoid trading altogether during those times.
Lillyw91:
My Dad actually introduced me to trading forex and I honestly think without that introduction I would never have started trading or found forex by myself. Mainly because I haven’t always been interested in the financial industry. The more I learnt about trading the more interested I became in the industry.
To answer the question ‘Why not?’ I would have to say probably because I was never really that aware of it. I didn’t know anyone in the industry, no friends who work in finance. I hate to stereotype myself and I hope it doesn’t offend anyone but I did live very much in my own girly bubble, I focused on my wedding planning business and spent my free time shopping, dancing or looking at handbags I couldn’t afford! However despite not knowing anyone socially who had an interest in financial markets, my Dad had been trading since I was young.
I used to pick up his books and flick through them and think ‘Wow this looks pretty important, so probably not for me!’ I think its probably fair to say that I didn’t and wouldn’t have had the confidence to learn something new like forex if my Dad hadn’t taught me, encouraged me and he truly believes that I will be a better trader than he is. I don’t want readers to think I’m saying I needed male encouragement, I just needed encouragement.
Ria_rose:
Actually, it was my uncle who got me into trading. 
We live in a third world country, and really, you have to be resourceful and hardworking to earn a living. So, when he told me about the financial freedom I could get through trading, it immediately caught my attention.
At first, he talked to me about stocks and cryptocurrencies. But when I got a bit confused because his explanations were pretty vague, he just told me to look up BabyPips’ online course. He said it’s really for newbie forex traders, but the indicators and patterns might also be helpful for stocks and crypto trading. So that’s what I did! I found myself getting more and more interested in forex so I decided to focus on it. Although it has been pretty challenging, I’ve decided that I’ll give my all to become a real forex trader!
Haha. It’s still kinda funny cause I never really thought I’d be into anything that involves numbers. I’m not the best at math and I’m more into social studies so I’ve always been intimidated by the financial industries. But because of the chance at financial freedom, I wanted to go out of my comfort zone and try trading forex. I guess sometimes, you just have to overcome your insecurities and grab the opportunity to make your dreams come true.
CoinLady:
I’ve been interested in trading for a long time but I didn’t take studying seriously. What got me to take it seriously was cryptocurrencies. I wanted to learn technical analysis so bad and in the process of studying my focus shifted to forex.
Yes! I’ve been reading about money management and investing since I was in college. With that, I was introduced to the financial industry.
2. Why do you think we have fewer female traders vs. male traders? What do you think could be holding them back?
Justshell:
I personally believe that it’s just a lack of interest. I haven’t met a lot of other women that’s interested in the financial industry, especially not trading. It’s been made into a male dominated field. Also, there’s a lot of emotion involved in trading, and as you all probably know, a lot of us women can be very emotional and would probably go crazy every time we see a drawdown lol but I’m not like the average woman.
I grew up playing soccer and basketball with the boys, running around the field, etc. I was never into playing with dolls, or playing dress up, or any of that lol I always wanted to prove that I can be just as good as the boys on the field, and that goes for anything else that I do. I even tried rugby in college and loved it lol so, I guess it just depends on the woman.
Lillyw91:
This is a really hard question, I really do not know why we have fewer female traders. I have noticed though that we have fewer female construction workers also and fewer male midwives. We are only just breaking through the stigma that certain jobs are for certain genders so it may take another generation or so before we see the numbers even up.
I feel certain that if trading was more talked about amongst females that more women would take it up. None of my girl friends buy investment magazines, but I bet if Vogue or Elle ran an article about a successful female forex trader their interest would spike! What I do know is that if a woman wants to do anything… there’s no way anything on this earth could hold her back. We always find a way to do what we want.
Ria_rose:
Hmmm. 
Tbh, this one’s really difficult. I’m sure there are a lot of reasons out there, but for me, I think it also has a lot to do with awareness, maybe? 
Like, I don’t think a lot of people, especially women, are aware of the benefits and opportunities in forex trading, which is why it hardly crosses their minds to pursue a career here. 
They don’t realize that it’s possible for them to have more control of their own time through trading, so they opt for the 9-5 office job (I have nothing against those, btw. Huhu.)
Personally speaking, apart from the Math and numbers, I was also intimidated by the cold and distant image of the financial industry. Like, everything is about money, and emotions have no room in this path. So, yeah.I guess those aren’t really appealing to a lot of women out there.
CoinLady:
I’m very bad in Math. I feel like there are also a lot of females who may also be interested in trading but are intimidated because they think there’s a lot of Math involved. This was what was holding me back before.
3. If you can talk to your younger self, what would you tell her to convince her to pursue forex trading?
Justshell:
I would tell myself to give it a try, learn the skill just like how you learn everything else in life, and WIN. That’s really all it is to me. I believe that if you truly want something, you will do whatever it takes to get it and things will eventually fall into place.
I would have told myself a long time ago to cut certain people off, and to start thinking about my future, start meditating, reading more, basically doing everything I’m currently doing now. I feel like I could have been on this journey a long time ago if I had more confidence back then and spent more time to myself. But, the good thing is I’m working on my goals now and I plan to become a profitable trader before I reach 30.
Lillyw91:
I would say… ‘Girl, let’s go do something no one expects us to do, it’s a risk but with risk comes reward, it will be hard but then the success will taste sweeter and when it all pays off we can buy a real life throne because you know you’re a Queen!’
Ria_rose:
Hmmm. After I talk to her about the opportunities and possibilities once I become a professional forex trader, I’ll tell her, “I know this is a gamble. You’re gonna invest so much of your time, effort, energy, and money in trying something that might not even work for you. But, I’m sure that if you give it your all, you’re gonna be just right where you wanna be. And you’re gonna look back and realize that it was a great decision to let go of your insecurity and try out something that could potentially change your life.”
Then, once I become a professional forex trader, I’ll tell my future self, “See? I told you, didn’t I?”
CoinLady:
I would tell my younger self that she’s already read too much books on money management and to start right away with investing in mutual funds. Then I would also tell her to start studying about forex and trading in general instead. Lastly, I’d tell my younger self to buy BTC!!! Haha
Let’s keep the discussion going, ladies! Why don’t you try answering these questions? We’re excited to hear about your own trading journeys!
I’m looking forward to what this year will bring, as I plan on going LIVE really soon ! I even plan on creating a trading journal on here also, so be on the lookout for that
xxx
I’m so happy to be part of this 
I just hope my answers made sense 
The guys here have been amazing! But I sure would love more women here too. 
I couldn’t agree more.