Your Forex Bestie: Joy’s Journey
🎙️ The Real Journey of a Trader — with Joy Charitoo, aka Your Forex Bestie
In this heartfelt episode of Market Mamas, I sit down with the inspiring Joy Charitoo — also known online as Your Forex Bestie. She opens up about her raw and real journey into trading, from being her husband’s “first mentee,” to blowing accounts, nearly quitting, and eventually finding her way back to the charts with renewed purpose.
🔁 From Observer to Trader
Joy’s introduction to trading came through her husband, who dove headfirst into Forex back in 2017. At the time, she was focused on social media work, but as he shared what he was learning, she absorbed the lingo and eventually joined the industry — first as a broker sales manager, then as a trader herself.
By 2020, she opened her first live account — and quickly blew it. Goodness, do we all understand that experience?!? I swear, it’s like a rite of passage for so many of us! But she turned that experience into knowledge! That mistake was the spark for her deeper learning curve around risk management, discipline, and the emotional rollercoaster of trading.
💥 The Drawdown That Nearly Ended It All
Like many traders, Joy started off strong and overconfident. She was flipping accounts, dreaming of gated communities and luxury cars — until the inevitable drawdown hit. She found herself stuck in the cycle of trying new strategies, overtrading, and questioning her ability.
"You know it's a mistake, but you still do it. And that cycle just drains you."
At her lowest, Joy seriously considered quitting for good. But her husband, convinced that they were “sitting on a gold mine,” refused to let her give up.
❤️ The Comeback
What brought Joy back wasn’t a new system or a winning streak — it was support. Her husband sat with her through backtesting sessions, reminding her of her passion and potential. Bit by bit, she found her way back to the charts, this time with more humility and clarity.
She also turned to social media, not for validation or flashy lifestyle posts, but to educate and connect with others in the same boat. That’s how Your Forex Bestie was born — a platform focused on mindset, education, and real talk.
💬 Some Key Points
Everyone hits emotional walls — and that's part of the trader's journey.
Trading looks like nothing to outsiders, which is why finding community matters.
The right support system — spouse, friend, or online tribe — can keep you in the game.
You don’t need to “look like a trader” to be one. Just start where you are.
Your struggles don’t disqualify you. They make you stronger.
"It’s as though you must not need the money for you to make the money. Because if you need the money, you will not make the money."
~ Your Forex Bestie
👑 Trading Full-time?
Next in the conversation, Joy and I dove into what life as a full-time trader really looks like. Spoiler: it’s rarely just trading. Joy shares how she balances trading with multiple businesses, motherhood, and even a return to the brokerage world — all while staying grounded in her passion for the markets.
🧩 A Multifaceted Career
Though Joy has been a full-time trader for years, her day-to-day is anything but one-dimensional. Between her graphic design business, social media management, and a recent return to the brokerage world as an executive coordinator for Grand Capital South Africa, her focus remains centered on the financial markets — but from several angles.
This honest take on full-time trading highlights a powerful truth: most traders need multiple streams of income to trade well — not because they aren’t skilled, but because pressure is the enemy of performance!
🧠 Trading Without Pressure = Better Trading
Joy and I both agreed: when trading isn’t your only source of income, you trade better. You can wait for the clean setups. You’re not forcing trades just to feel productive. You’re not sabotaging yourself because the rent is due.
Instead of staring at charts all day and trying to force magic out of nothing that great, Joy encourages traders to find side businesses or flexible work that allow trading to stay intentional — not desperate.
🌀 The Mental Shift of Going Full-Time
We often glamorize the “full-time trader” label. But Joy lays it bare: leaving a job to trade full-time is a psychological identity shift that few talk about. Suddenly, the charts feel heavier. Mistakes hit harder. Your whole sense of self changes — and your results do too.
“When you shift, your mindset shifts. And if your psychology’s not right, the system won’t save you.”
This episode is packed with reminders that trading success is never just about strategy. Your biggest edge is YOU — your mindset, your mental state, your ability to step away when needed, and your emotional stability in and out of the charts.
🔥 Key Takeaways
Multiple streams of income can protect your trading mindset.
Your psychology shows up in your trades — fear, greed, stress… it’s all there in your entries and exits.
Don’t rush to go “full-time” — ease into it with part-time work or side hustles.
You can’t out-strategy a dysregulated nervous system.
The deeper your personal growth, the stronger your trading discipline becomes.
Trading is not just about technicals — it's about emotional mastery, self-awareness, and finding balance. Joy’s journey reminds us that we are not just traders, but full, layered human beings — and our trading should reflect that.
🔗 Follow Joy, aka Your Forex Bestie:
👉 IG: https://www.instagram.com/joycharitoo
👉 TT: https://www.tiktok.com/@your_forexbestie
Conversations with other traders are so valuable for me to have, and hence are such a gift for me to be able to bring to the public in this way! I really enjoy learning together from like-minded professionals and helping each other with tactics and tips that can help us all level up maybe just a bit quicker! And Joy was just that, and so much more!!
If you find value too, please do like and subscribe to the podcast on whatever platform you caught this conversation on and let’s evolve together into the highest profitability!! And if you are considering being a guest on my podcast we well, reach out and let’s talk!! https://www.market-mamas.com/contact Take care and happy trading!