A Trader's Journey: Airplane Jane

Benzinga's "A Trader's Journey" features a trade who shares their life experiences and how it molded their career. This show airs weekly on Sunday mornings on the Benzinga YouTube page.

"Airplane Jane" was able to watch the dot-com bubble implode right before her eyes. This unique experience helped shape the rest of her trader’s journey.

After studying international business in college, Jane took off and landed as a registered sales assistant at a brokerage house in Atlanta. Being witness to the devastation of the dot-com bubble taught this Series 7 holder valuable lessons about margin and options, as well as reinforcing the desire to work with your own money instead of with other people’s money. Two layoffs later, Jane found her niche trading for herself courtesy of her husband’s suggestion.

She started off with penny stocks and quickly found these were not for her. This mother needed to find a more consistent strategy in order to maintain her consistency. She found mentors that helped refine her trading skills and focused more on large caps. It was then she learned more about the dark pools and how they affect the market. She learned how traders with enormous resources hid their size. Deciphering this gave her the ability to follow the smart money.

If you could go back in time, what advice would you give yourself on day one?

Paper trade! Learn what works for you, learn how to be consistent before putting your real money on the line. Everyone is different, so take time figuring out what works for you.

You can find Jane on Twitter at the handle @ItsAirplaneJane and you can find her book here. Jane is an active member of the Fintwit community, and her work ethic and trading ability separate her from the pack.