On September 1st, 1998, one week after the Russia default, everyone was focused on the fact that I spoke perfect Russian and was able to help. When you are billions of dollars in a hole, there are no second thoughts with regard to gender whatsoever.

Neither. When I was on the trading floor, because of the vast insider information, I wasn't able to trade my own money, but I was able to go to St. Croix and spend time with Larry and learn how it works in a non-institutional setting and what he does. I knew right there that my trading life wouldn't end when I stopped working on the trading floor. I made a lot of friends I was able to lean on and cooperate with after I set up my own hedge fund and started trading my family and friends' money.

I spoke to the owner of Robbins almost every day at that time, and my strategy in the last competition quarter was purely set up to win, not about trading anymore. So I knew I had won about one week before the competition ended. It was simply a validation of my strategy, which I really enjoyed.

It's "meh" to me, since I was over 460% during Q3 of 2018. It is well known that if you make over 200%, you have a shot at winning the Championship. I am a very composed trader, to be honest, so I was really focused on keeping the number one spot once I got there. Until then the trading account was simply a smaller piece of my overall portfolio; I simply traded a smaller size of my normal position in that account. I am a very private person, and my hedge fund is a closed-end one, so there was no pressure, since nothing really changed for me.

Andrea Unger didn't train me. I am yet to meet Andrea in person. In 2016 I applied to a 4-day trading course in New York organized by Michael Cook, Kevin Davey and Andrea Unger, with a special guest, Kurt Sakaeda. For this course you had to apply, show your portfolio or explain how you trade, and be approved, as it was quite a high-end course. I was one of 30 people accepted; if I understand correctly, Serafini took part in it the year before. Andrea did not come to the course, because he fell ill 2 days before and ended up in the hospital, so he did a smaller part remotely. But I had taken one of his courses prior to coming to New York, as part of my preparation for the event. I wanted to get to know everyone presenting and understand what their trading is about. At this course I really liked Michael Cook's part, as he had an institutional background like me and traded completely differently than Kevin and Andrea, who were purely algo traders. I spent a lot of time talking to him during the breaks and asked him at the end if he would be my mentor. He told me he wouldn't be my mentor, because in his opinion I didn't need one, but he agreed to stay in touch frequently under one condition: I had to compete in the Robbins Championship. In Q4 2017 I did a test run in the smaller quarterly championship, where I ended 4th. I simply wanted to see if it would have any negative impact on my trading or mess with my head. Because it worked out fine, I signed up for the Annual Championship in 2018. Since 2016 I have met with Michael Cook, Kurt Sakaeda and sometimes Kevin Davey on a regular basis. We usually all come to the Traders Expo in Vegas, which takes place twice a year. It's not that we think we can learn so much from the expo; it simply gives us the chance to come together for 4 days and talk about nothing but trading, non-stop. Larry also comes quite frequently to present, so we see each other there too. These get-togethers are amazing, and this is exactly what you will never get from any book, Zoom call, YouTube or TikTok.

I probably learned the most while at Merrill Lynch in London. Lake Havasu City, Arizona changed me the most, as I went from a very high-level job with two personal assistants commanding my schedule in 10-minute increments, endless pressure, budgets and cutthroat money-making, to no pressure and no outside expectations, where only you decide how much you push yourself to become a better human being today.

My husband is not a trader; he is a God-gifted musician, producer, former professional athlete and successful businessman, meaning one of the most creative people I have ever met. We are a perfect combination of people who leverage each other's gifts and talents.

I am a futures spreads trader, and I am really, really good at it. The way I trade, 99% of traders don't. That's why I can make money when almost no one can. Even seasoned futures traders frequently do not understand what I do if we start talking about it. I love that I am doing something exceptional that very few people can do; it is very difficult to replicate unless you have a deep understanding of the futures markets. That being said, I love making money, and there should be no shame in saying it. After all, this is what trading is about: making money.

These moments always come, mostly because of secondary issues that impair your ability to do the trade. Issues like IT (hardware and software), compliance, brokers and stock exchange due diligence, requirements and enablements, tax considerations and so on; the list is endless. That's why I keep my setup as simple as possible, to have very few headaches.