From Broke to Millionaire Day Trader

I went from waking up at 5:00 a.m. as a broke construction worker to becoming a multi-million dollar day trader who broke the world record for the largest prop firm payout in history. I was once a dead broke college dropout with no direction, dealing with losing both my parents to cancer and battling depression with all the odds against me.

But now I'm a full-time professional trader. I retired my wife, bought two dream cars (a Ferrari 488 Spider and a G Wagon), and recently purchased a multi-million dollar horse ranch. My name is Kyle, and this is my story.

The Early Years: Black Sheep of an Asian Family

I grew up in a small town in upstate New York in a family of four. Both my parents were Chinese, and as you can imagine, expectations were sky-high. My older brother was the shining example—valedictorian, Eagle Scout, Naval Academy graduate. Everything a first-generation Asian family could dream of.

Me? I was the black sheep. The youngest cousin, the rebel who didn't want to do schoolwork. I just wanted to go outside, hang with friends, play sports, and play video games. School was an afterthought. I didn't want to be a doctor, engineer, or lawyer—the traditional Asian family career paths.

My parents were polar opposites. My mom was the school nurse—the sweetest, nicest person everyone loved. My dad was rough, rugged, a printer technician with incredible talent but stuck in what he viewed as a dead-end job. He was frustrated, stressed, a chain smoker (two packs a day), and took it out on us when he got home.

Tragedy Strikes: Losing My Mom

At the end of middle school leading into high school, my mom was diagnosed with cancer. My entire high school career was stressful—managing extracurricular activities (band, sports, classes) while watching my mom cry at home, dealing with this terrible disease, feeling horrible most days.

Senior year arrived. Like all seniors, we drank, partied, had a good time. Then, a couple weeks before graduation, my mom's disease worsened and she passed away.

She was the shining light in my life. The one who would have helped me navigate college. My dad, on the other hand, wasn't present—didn't care about my grades, barely showed up to soccer games or practices. He was distant.

College Dropout: Lost and Depressed

Going to college while depressed and directionless was a disaster. I didn't know what I wanted to do. I just wanted to party and have a good time. But I couldn't drop out—that's not "the Asian thing to do."

I moved downtown, an hour bus ride to campus. All I did was party, skip classes, not care because my dad was paying. After about a year and a half, my dad gave me an ultimatum: get my grades back on track or move home.

I ended up back home as a college dropout, drinking, smoking, hanging out with friends, with no direction whatsoever.

The Discovery: When Trading Found Me

One day, my childhood friend (known since kindergarten) asked me to come over. We'd both dropped out of college and ended up back home. When I walked down the street to his house, he showed me something that changed everything: the markets.

I was looking at lines on a chart—just demo trading—and for whatever reason, this hooked me immediately. As a rebel who didn't like authority, I found trading as a way out. Something I could do where I didn't need to listen to anybody. I could make money. It felt like freedom.

This was around 2011. We found Forex Factory—before social media dominated, people posted charts, strategies, and economic data on forums. I was on that forum non-stop. Older traders (30-40 years old) posting about being full-time traders fascinated me. I dove through threads, asked endless questions, and fell down the rabbit hole.

Reality Check: The Construction Years

But my dad wasn't having it. I needed to get a job or go back to school. I started working construction—starting at $10/hour, working 6am to 6pm in brutal conditions.

While working construction during the day, I'd come home exhausted and study trading at night. I was obsessed. I'd forward-test strategies, backtest ideas, spend hours analyzing charts. Trading became my escape from the grueling physical labor.

Climbing the Construction Ladder

Over seven years, I worked my way up from $10/hour to project manager making over $100,000/year, managing multi-million dollar budgets ($25-50 million projects). I'd handle vendors charging $1 million for a staircase railing or $500,000 for a snowmelt system.

This experience was crucial—it taught me to manage big numbers without emotional attachment. When I later traded $50,000-$100,000 positions at Apex, it was just another day at the office.

The Trading Journey: Years of Struggle

For years, I struggled. I blew through accounts, lost money, made every mistake possible. I was learning, but progress was slow.

The Turning Point: Going Full-Time (2019)

Around 2019, I made the decision to go full-time. But here's the harsh truth: I blew $100,000 of my own money trying to force it to work.

Why did I blow that capital? Overleveraging. Ego. Trying to prove myself to others. Not being honest about my mental state and environment affecting my trading.

The Breakthrough: Prop Firms and Process

After blowing my personal capital, I discovered prop firms. This was the game-changer. I could trade with their capital, limit my risk to the challenge fee, and scale without risking my own money again.

The Key Shift: Process Over Profits

The biggest mental shift that transformed my trading: Stop thinking about the money. Focus on the process.

When I sat down at the charts, I had to shut out all the noise:

• Not worrying where money would come from
• Not stressing about bills to pay
• Not watching the P&L on screen
• Only caring whether I was taking good trades

The Transition to Futures: A New Challenge

When CFD firms started shutting down (MetaTrader got banned, CFD firms banned US clients), I had to pivot to futures. This was harder—markets moved differently, traders scalped more, rules were different (intraday trailing drawdown at Apex).

I blew hundreds of accounts learning futures. Found myself in drawdown again. But I came back to the principles that got me full-time in the first place:

1. Stop thinking about the money
2. Show up to the charts and trade the process
3. Keep things simple
4. Stick to risk management
5. Don't worry about each individual trade

The Perfect Storm: $2.5M World Record Payout

Then Trump came into office. Started talking about tariffs. Headlines moved markets like crazy. Markets moved 500-1,000 points per day. The volatility was insane.

I took advantage. First, Apex stopped the intraday trailing drawdown (giving breathing room). Then the market volatility exploded.

I started making $50,000, $100,000, $250,000 days. It was all because I was focused on process, not money. Whether I made $50K or $250K, I did the same thing every day. No celebrating. Just work out, healthy dinner, back to charts.

At Apex, you can't withdraw the full amount. Each payout cycle was 8 trading days, meaning I had to trade every single day even when I probably shouldn't have. But the markets kept offering opportunity after opportunity.

The Construction Experience Pays Off

For most people watching, they wouldn't understand the risk tolerance and discipline needed to trade that size. But my construction experience managing $25-50 million budgets—paying vendors $1 million for a staircase railing—meant that trading $50,000-$100,000 positions was just another day at the office.

Those seven years of construction weren't wasted. They trained my brain to handle big numbers without emotional attachment.

The Real Reasons Traders Fail

Looking back at my trading career, I can tell you why most traders fail. It's not the strategy.

It's everything else:

• Personality issues: Impatience, impulsiveness, lack of discipline
• Environment: Hostile, chaotic, stressful surroundings
• Relationships: Toxic or unsupportive partnerships
• Physical health: Poor diet, no exercise, inadequate sleep
• Mental state: Depression, anxiety, unresolved trauma

When I was trading in the zone during my record run, I was at peace. There was serenity. I wasn't worried about where money would come from or bills to pay. I shut out all noise and focused on proper trading.

The numbers on the screen didn't matter. The P&L didn't matter. All that mattered was taking good trades.

What Environment Really Means for Trading

The small things I wasn't looking at had an abstract but massive impact on trading performance:

• Was my environment hostile or peaceful?
• Was my relationship at home good or toxic?
• Was I eating healthy or junk food?
• Was I working out properly or sedentary?
• Was I actually disciplined or just pretending?

If I was stuck in that chaotic life—the one I had during college, early construction years, battling depression—this wouldn't have been possible.

Lessons for Aspiring Traders

If you're watching this and going through hard times like I did, you need to take a deep, hard look at yourself. Figure out how you're going to transform yourself into the trader you want to be.

Address These Honestly:

1. Your environment: Is it chaotic or peaceful?
2. Your relationships: Are they supportive or draining?
3. Your health: Are you exercising and eating well?
4. Your mental state: Are you at peace or battling demons?
5. Your discipline: Are you truly disciplined or just going through motions?
6. Your motivation: Are you trading for yourself or trying to prove something to others?

I struggled with every single one of these before my breakthrough. Trading forced me to address them. If you're honest about what's holding you back, you will become a better trader—and more importantly, a better person.

Final Message: You Can Turn It Around

No matter where you are in life—whether you're in high school, far older than me, broke, depressed, lost—there's always a chance to turn your life around for the better.

I know every single one of you has the potential to be amazing and super successful. Don't let your circumstances define you. Use them as fuel.

My parents dying from cancer, dropping out of college, working brutal construction hours, blowing $100K of my own money—all of it shaped me into someone who could handle the pressure of trading $100K positions and making million-dollar payouts.

Your struggles aren't stopping you. They're preparing you.

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