Meet Your Instructor

Hi, I'm April.

I am a retired nurse turned full-time futures trader — known in the trading room as Mama's Money ☕ based in the United States with three years of profitable trading experience across ES, NQ, and multiple futures markets. I trade every morning — live, in front of my community — and I teach exactly what I do.

I spent years in nursing caring for people at their most vulnerable. When I transitioned to trading I brought that same mission with me — I am on a mission to transfer wealth to the righteous. I believe everyday people deserve access to real financial education, not watered-down signals and empty promises from people who profit from your confusion.

I started Candlesticks & Coffee because I believe the biggest reason beginners fail is not their strategy. It is the lack of structure, honest education, and someone holding them accountable when they are about to do something they will regret.

I am not a guru. I am not selling a dream. I am teaching the exact rules, mistakes, and systems I had to learn the hard way — so you do not have to learn them the same way I did.

3
Years Trading
ES
& NQ Focus
Daily
Live Sessions
April
Founder · Candlesticks & Coffee
ES Futures
NQ Futures
Risk Management
Prop Firm Educator
Mama's Money ☕
Retired Nurse
Full-Time Trader
My Story

Why I Started Teaching

I spent years as a nurse caring for people through their hardest moments. When I retired I discovered futures trading — and I made every mistake a beginner can make. I risked too much per trade. I revenge traded after losses. I ignored my daily loss limits when I was in the red and convinced myself that one more trade would fix everything.

What my nursing background gave me was discipline under pressure and the ability to follow protocols when emotions are running high. Those same skills — once I built the right trading framework — became my edge in the markets.

I did not have anyone to tell me to stop. No community. No accountability. Just me, the charts, and a slowly shrinking account.

What changed everything was not finding a better strategy. It was building a system — a set of rules I followed regardless of how I felt, how the market was moving, or how bad the previous day had been. A max risk per trade. A daily loss limit. A journaling habit. A single setup I actually understood.

Once I had structure, everything else improved — my consistency, my confidence, and eventually my results. And I started to realize that most beginners are struggling with the exact same things I was struggling with three years ago.

That is why I built Candlesticks & Coffee. Not to sell signals. Not to promise you a yacht. To give beginners the structure and accountability I wish I had when I was starting out.

"I don't teach you how to get rich trading futures. I teach you how not to blow accounts — and how to build consistency, step by step."
What I Believe

My Teaching Philosophy

Structure Before Strategy
Most beginners do not need a better entry. They need a max risk per trade, a daily loss limit, and a journaling habit. Get those right first and the rest follows.
One Market. One Setup.
I trade ES and NQ futures. I teach one clear framework. No indicator overload, no strategy hopping. Deep mastery of one approach beats shallow knowledge of ten.
Accountability Matters
You cannot improve what you do not track. Every member journals their trades. No journal means no feedback. This rule exists because it works.
Education Not Signals
Signals create dependency. Dependency kills growth. I narrate every trade during live sessions so you understand the reasoning — not just the result.
Beginners Deserve Respect
No one is shamed for asking basic questions here. Everyone starts somewhere. The community is built to make beginners feel supported — not overwhelmed.
Honest Over Hype
No Lamborghinis. No screenshots of one great week. No quit-your-job promises. Just honest education about a challenging skill that takes time to develop.
What We Do Every Morning

A Day in the Community

Monday through Friday at 9:15 AM ET we open the Zoom room. We review overnight levels, check the economic calendar, and build the day's trade plan together before the open. No one goes into the session without a plan.

At 9:30 AM ET the NYSE opens and we trade live. Every setup is narrated — entry logic, stop placement, position sizing, and trade management. You are not just watching me trade. You are learning how I think about every decision in real time.

After the session members post their trades in the Discord for review. Journal submissions are reviewed weekly. If someone is breaking risk rules they hear about it — directly and privately. The community standards exist to protect everyone who is here with the right mindset.

This is what Candlesticks & Coffee looks like every single morning. Coffee in hand, charts up, and a room full of people committed to getting better at this skill.

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Start Learning the Right Way

Join the community that teaches structure before strategy — and accountability before profits.

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