How I went from earning N100,000 monthly to over $10,000 in financial market – Chiqa

Chika Alphonsus is the CEO of TradewithChiqa, a foremost financial market firm offering revolutionary coaching and mentoring to young people in forex and cryptocurrency trading. Born in Imo state, she holds a Diploma in Business Entrepreneurship and a Bachelor of Science in Public Administration from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka.

In this interview with Olisemeka Sony, Alphonsus shared the story of her epic triumphs amidst tragic loss of her father, spectacular crash from the mountain top of the financial market onto the rock-bottom and bankruptcy. Like the mythical phoenix, she rose again from the ashes of the crash back to the pinnacle of the financial market.

How would you explain your success in this industry?

No one can accurately provide the exact words to capture my success story. It isn’t simply saying, “Hey buddies! I went from N100,000 monthly, six years ago to making over $10,000 on a monthly basis, in recent times. Isn’t God faithful?” Don’t feed anyone such crap! Anyone who runs a business has to cope with serial failures  and successes at one point or another. No one has ever had it easy; not even those that have all the resources at their   disposal.

How did your personal background define your journey to where you are today as Chiqa?

Let me tell you my story. I was born into a wealthy but polygamous family in Imo state, South East Nigeria. Fortunately, my dad gave me everything I could ever want. My mom was the third and last wife and we all lived peacefully, my mom, her co-wives, my step siblings and I.

No fights and squabbles in the mould or calibre of unnecessary fisticuffs, pulling at each other’s hairs or tugging at wrappers off the waist, as is common in some polygamous homes. The women in my home were entrepreneurs at heart and worked tirelessly inspite of all my father had. This ignited a passion within me for business and entrepreneurship from a very young age. Seems like a rosy life, right? Indeed, it was until my dad passed on some years later.

 It was then I experienced the dark side of life. I was only 11 years old. Grief took some toll on me. If you have ever lost a dear loved one; especially the one that buys you ice-cream, I’m sure you’d be able to totally relate. I lost orientation! I became angry that my dad died without thinking of the young children he left behind. Grief can destroy and if you let it, it will.

I was so angry, hurt and bitter that I didn’t focus on any other thing rather than all the negative emotions I felt at the time and, unfortunately, I let them overwhelm me completely. I had silently waved a big “goodbye” to my ambitions that once burned so fiercely in my heart.

As I grew older, I came to terms with the fact that he was gone and that life must go on. Like they say, “sometimes, SAPA is all the motivation you need.”  [Editor’s note: SAPA is a new Nigerian street lingo depicting a state of being extremely broke or poor, especially after a period of extravagant spending.]

I moved to Ghana after a long, hard, thought process. Sometimes you can’t bloom where you’re planted; you just have to move. Luckily, as one of the first jobs I got (I had several), I worked as a personal assistant to the late Prince Buruji  Kashamu at the Best Western Island Hotel.

I  worked for only nine months before deciding to fully venture into entrepreneurship since I   clearly loved the money-making processing and wanted to be in control of my money. I did a number of businesses. A very interesting one was, shoe making! Yes. I made and supplied shoes to my clients in different parts of Ghana and it was in one of those supplies that I stumbled onto the Financial Market by chance, courtesy of a client in Accra.

What was your first reaction when he told you about financial market?

When he told me about it, I was stunned and a whole lot skeptical, too. I mean, I believed I was already doing well in my other businesses and I knew that this wouldn’t be the regular type of business; it would demand leaving my comfort zone and learning something entirely new. It would also demand a few hot tears and some drops of blooded sweats I guessed. I resolved to see if I was ready to risk it. Maybe.

What did you know about the financial market then?

Nothing! Even though I knew next to nothing about financial market at this stage, here was my client, encouraging me to give it a try. So, when I hypothetically calculated all the money I could make in like, a  year and it ran into unbelievable zeros,  zeros I’d never made before, I decided it was worth trying. Next thing you know, I’m enrolling at a Forex Academy.

Three months down the line, I’m actually learning and making some cool profit! Within three years, I had visited The United Kingdom, The Gambia, Sierra Leone, Maldives, The United States of America and other places, courtesy of the value of the Financial Market and how well I had mastered and applied it for my benefit and that of my clientele.

Apart from riding the wave on the financial market, what other remarkable achievements did you record during this period?

I got pregnant and had a beautiful baby girl. Her dad and I met at a financial summit in Accra, Ghana. He was a block chain strategist, and institutional trader and I was in love. Our time together affected my life positively and left me with a lovely gift that was nothing short of a replica of me, but only better; our daughter.

My daughter speaks Mandarin. She bakes. She is multi-talented and very creative. Just thinking about her brightens my day. Incidentally, our marriage ended and I moved on with my child. It was tough. I was heartbroken but still moving.

I had to answer countless questions from family and friends. Same questions you probably want to  ask me too. Remember that there was once a war in heaven, and a “match made in heaven” isn’t perfect. I was as emotionally and mentally distracted as you could imagine. The only thing that kept me sane was my lovely girl.

How have you thrived in a male dominated industry as financial market so far?

Truth is, in a male-dominated industry such as the financial industry, women are often relegated to the background, underestimated and sidelined. It takes enormous effort and palpable results to show that you know what the market is about. Even your own colleagues will try to talk you down to someone who doesn’t know you, using your gender as a key conversation starter. Such put-downs as “she should be selling clothes or something else, not trading forex and cryptocurrency.”

What  made it even harder is that, when you’re good at trading, most men in the industry will feel intimidated by you and will try to downplay your competence. You know how a gold digger, actual gold digger, not the metaphoric one, continually digs and hopes to stumble on a huge raw gold deposit?

That was how I hoped for a trade, just one trade that would turn my life around. And you bet! That trade came. And just as how speedily Juliet drank poison to join Romeo in the afterlife, so did I quickly invest all I had into this life-changing trade. I even borrowed. And,      yes, it really did change my life. I lost everything! I even lost myself.

The financial market gave me a hard bite. It was a painful period, of loss and profound disappointment. There were so many mentors who didn’t know more than just buying and selling. So many traders were only gambling and just how many female traders could I connect to console me? I hit the rock bottom.

People say, “when you hit rock bottom, the only way left to go is up!” But, what if you decide to go sideways? I stayed down for long. But don’t blame me, I didn’t even have money take care of my daughter. I couldn’t pay her fees or do any other essential thing. Feeding was a problem at some point. To make matters worse, I was in another country at the time! My rent was due and I as hours away from being evicted to become destitute. I cried myself to sleep every night and the frustration I felt seemed to intensify daily.

So, what did you do that eventually pulled you out of the hole?

It reached such critical stage that I had no other option than to reach out to family and very close friends who supported   me by raising some money which I used to start up petty trade. I opted to playing safe, going into any business other business but forex or crypto trading. Those would suffice, I believed. I got so comfortable with life outside the financial market and even though things were not exactly easy at  the time, I decided to persevere rather than go back.

 I had suffered enough heartbreak to last a lifetime. One day, I was going through my trade catalogue and realised I didn’t give myself as much credit as I should have. I messed up, yes! But the critical question that immediately popped up in my head was: ‘Are you the first to make a mistake? Will you be the last?

Then, the voice spoke more loudly this time: “Chika, you learnt from scratch. You made profits that even those who had been in the market for decades hadn’t made. You have consulted for very affluent persons and prestigious organisations. Brace up! You did it before and you can most certainly   do it again.”

That was it! That tiny voice revived my interest, zest in the financial market. I went back to the drawing board and scrutinized all my steps. I admitted my mistakes and went further than my limitations. And just like a compass guiding me back to where all the   “money magic” happens,  my thirst and insatiable hunger for in-depth knowledge and practical mastery offered me a place amongst the financial market stars, once again.

There were days I stayed awake. No sleep at all: just me on my study desk, relearning and unlearning. During this recuperating time, fate crossed my path with a very wonderful person. So, he was highly instrumental to this phase of my life.

His knowledge about the market as well as the constructive criticism, positive appraisals and critical brainstorming sessions with him made my revised and thoroughly improved trade modules infallible, to a very large extent. I was able to let go of fear, my lack of focus and patience. I rose above my losses, the setbacks and disappointments and made a major comeback A few months down the line, I’m making ten times of what I used to earn before my epic loss. I’m talking of earning an average of 30,000 USD, monthly.

Having overcome one of the greatest odds to return to the top pyramid of the financial market, what’s your next game plan?

Seeing what’s going on globally, with so many people, women especially, struggling to find themselves, find their voice or become what they always dreamt to be – I mean to just be financially free and happy – I was moved to put together some of my knowledge and experience in the financial market and turn it into what I call “The Financial Market Trading Cheat Sheet” and people can get it for FREE, at least for now.

This is like a workbook that will show you how to make insane profits in the forex or cryptocurrency trading markets. To transform my life, I need some set of new skills, passion for learning, and a commitment to execute what I learn. You can’t have it another way, dear. Regardless of what is going on with you at the moment and what you do for a living, I suggest you get this Workbook and follow the process that will transform your life as well. Click on https://www.tradewithchiqa.com/fmtsecrets/ to get this workbook now.

What about those that have not traded in the financial markets before. Can they get desired results from this book?

Even if you haven’t traded in the financial market before, this is also very much for you, there is nothing you can’t learn or master if you commit to it and I think I can help you. Just click here to begin. https://www.tradewithchiqa.com/fmtsecrets/

Why are you doing this?

I’m doing this because I believe in giving back to the society. Above all, we all deserve that soft life and financial freedom to be able to   do more for ourselves, loved ones and the society at large. Don’t let your past losses, mistakes or crises hold you back. There’s money to be made especially in the financial market if you are ready to take the shot, I am giving your here. https://www.tradewithchiqa.com/fmtsecrets/