Meet Your Instructor
Hi, I'm April.
I created Candlesticks & Coffee because I believe learning to trade shouldn’t feel like trying to piece together a thousand conflicting opinions from the internet.
Trading requires more than learning where to click buy and sell. It requires understanding the market, developing structure, managing risk, building discipline, and learning how to make decisions for yourself.
That’s the kind of education I wanted Candlesticks & Coffee to provide. Here, we slow the process down. We study real markets, talk through real decisions, learn from each session, and focus on developing consistency over time—not chasing shortcuts.
And because trading can be an incredibly isolating journey, I wanted to build something else alongside the education: community. A place where you can learn, ask questions, share ideas, and keep showing up.
So grab your coffee, pull up a chair, and let’s see what the market is brewing. ☕
April
Founder · Candlesticks & Coffee
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.
“Good trading isn’t brewed overnight. We build it through education, discipline, consistency, and time.”
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.
