We were lucky to catch up with Marina Kuperman Villatoro recently and have shared our conversation below.

Marina, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What’s something crazy on unexpected that’s happened to you or your business

Day trading has been the most intense and transformational teacher of my life. When I started, I crashed hard, continuously: emotionally, mentally, financially.

It forced me to face every demon in my head. After two years of self-sabotage and chaos, I realized I wasn’t just learning charts, I was confronting myself. That’s when I dove headfirst into every personal development method I could find: books, coaches, courses, woo-woo (yes, even psychics).

One day, someone suggested Reiki. I had no idea what it was, but I was in full spaghetti-throwing mode, so I figured—why not? Throw spaghetti at the wall has honestly been my go-to strategy for many things in life.

At the time, we were living in Guatemala. The Reiki healer, a French woman who barely spoke Spanish, walked into my house and immediately said, “She’s more afraid of you than you are of her.”

What?

I had no idea who she was talking about. But the day before, my son’s longtime nanny quit and then slapped a lawsuit on me claiming I’d fired her. Total lie. She quit. I hadn’t told anyone except my husband, and I was freaking out. So when the Reiki lady said that out of nowhere, I was completely thrown.

We went into a room for the session. She told me to close my eyes and she did… whatever she did. I was too scared to open them, but she never touched me, so for all I know, she could’ve cast a spell.

Afterwards, we sat in my living room and she said it again: “She’s more scared of you than you are of her.” I asked if she meant the nanny lawsuit, and she nodded. I was like, how do you even know about that? She told me she was also an intuitive reader.

Then she added, “I see you teaching… not sure what exactly, numbers, markets, something like that. To women.” I laughed. Hard. Teaching? Trading? No way.

But something about that moment planted a seed.

Up until then, I’d figured out how to simplify day trading for myself in a way that actually made sense and made it fun. Especially compared to the 99% testosterone-fueled, male madness of the industry. Over time, I realized women learn differently. We needed a different voice in that space. A new approach.

So The Trader Chick was born. What began as a journey to survive and heal became a business that now helps people, women and men, learn to trade with clarity, simplicity, ease, and confidence.

That one moment? It changed everything. And started everything.

Marina, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

As a Soviet Union refugee during the Cold War Marina arrived in New York City. 20 years later she took off on a backpacking journey with no end in mind. While camping in the Tikal Mayan Ruins of Guatemala, she met her future husband, the first Guatemalan she ever met, who was camping in the next tent over. They’ve been married for over 22 years, raising their 2 trilingual sons.

Marina Kuperman Villatoro has been an entrepreneur for over 25 years. Starting out as a top fitness instructor in NYC gyms with a wanderlust, she became a travel writer (and still hosts a popular travel blog today). Combining her love of entrepreneurialism and social justice she took on the monumental project of becoming a TEDx organizer (one of the few that included teens in an outdoor venue).

How does she do it all? She credits her simple “no fluff” Day Trading strategies as a professional day trader.

Today, Marina is a sought after speaker and mentor to aspiring and seasoned traders. She stands out in the industry amongst the guru’s as one who embraces the spirituality of Day Trading and works hard to help others transform their lives one trade at a time! She specializes in helping the true beginners to Day Trade with confidence and ease. For anyone who has a desire to learn Day Trading but has no idea where to start. She shows you the best way to go from newbie to pro (trader) fast while avoiding the mistakes she made.

Can you talk to us about your experience with buying businesses?

After The Trader Chick was running smoothly, I wanted something new. A creative business that offered physical products. I’d been in the digital world for so long, I thought it’d be fun to dive into a brick-and-mortar-style product biz. So, I bought into a beautiful, all-natural Mayan skincare company, 50/50 partnership. I was so excited, I didn’t do any due diligence. I didn’t understand the numbers, the systems, I barely knew the industry. I just went all in because I loved the mission.

But passion without process is expensive.

Within a year, I realized the business had no protocols, no SOPs, no structure. We were bleeding money before we even started the real investments. I was sinking 12 hour days into it, had sidelined my other businesses, and was burning through cash at a terrifying speed. I knew if I didn’t get out fast, I’d bankrupt my family. So I did, I pulled the plug, took the loss, and ran.

Fail fast, fail forward.

But here’s the plot twist.

While we were filming some product videos for the skincare line, the Guatemalan videographer we hired asked me what else I did. I told him about my day trading biz. He goes, “Oh, my wife’s a day trading affiliate manager.”

Wait—what?!

In tiny Antigua, Guatemala, this guy’s American wife manages day trading educatorss? What are the chances?

I tucked that away. Months later, after exiting the beauty business and getting back to The Trader Chick and my travel brand, I remembered that conversation and gave her a call.

Game-changer.

That connection transformed my day trading education business. The whole thing leveled up in ways I couldn’t have planned. So yeah, I lost money on the skincare business—but it led me to her. And she helped take everything to the next level.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

I started working with my business manager, the US woman living in Antigua, Guatemala, my day trading affiliate manager, and that’s when everything changed. She opened the doors to markets I didn’t even know existed.

Through her, I got access to all these live summit events packed with people eager to learn how to day trade. She set me up with email swaps, organized webinars and masterclasses. She handled the backend while I showed up to teach. Because of her, I went from an email list of just 1,000 people to over 120,000. That became my number one growth strategy: live events, summits, presentations, masterclasses, and webinars, all with built-in audiences, all ready to learn.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://thetraderchick.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marina.kuperman.villatoro/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/learntodaytrade/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marinakvillatoro/
• Twitter: https://x.com/MarinaVillatoro
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Thetraderchick

Image Credits

these are all mine, you can use them