I am almost certain that almost none of you has ever heard of Quetzaltenango, maybe better known to some by it Mayan name of Xelajú. It is where I grew up and lived the first twenty-three years of my life. My name is Ximena and this is my migration story which enabled me to have a future and most likely saved my life. I am writing this on my thirty-seventh birthday as I decided to take a momentum to reflect on the path I travelled, where it led me and what lies ahead. Maybe this will inspire some to work smart in order to take control of your future, regardless of where you were born and raised.

As I mentioned, I grew up in Xelajú which is the second largest city in Guatemala. It is located in a mountain valley between 2,330 and 2,400 meters above sea level. When I tell people that I had to climb a mountain, I literally grew up in the mountains. The story of Xelajú and my own have quite a few similarities. There have been ups and downs, the eruption of the Santa María Volcano rained rocks down on the city in 1902 and the only railway in Guatemala, at that time, was demolished after only three years in 1933. Since the 90’s, an economic boom has taken place in Xelajú which is now getting a brand new image as a skyline is developing.

Unfortunately, the crime rate across Guatemala is very high which resulted in my move to Spain in order to study biology. Femicide, which Guatemala first recognized as a crime in 2008 as the first country to do so, is at the highest level behind El Salvador and Jamaica. When I had a chance to study in Spain, I took it which is why I stated earlier that it may have saved my life. I travelled to Spain together with three other students and we shared an apartment in Bilbao. All of us were busy with two jobs each, but the shared history and hardship forged a very strong friendship which continues to last and flourish today.

One of my jobs was cleaning an office building after hours together with my three friends. We got lucky and the all were hired on the spot by the manager. The office building housed a diverse mix of smaller companies and while we were cleaning at night, some offices were always occupied. One of the offices was that of a financial firm which was focused on forex and commodities trading. This is where I first crossed paths with the forex market and were I met Nikola who was one of the managing partners at the firm. He always worked nights and after four months of casual conversations we started to get to know each other.

I was very curious which type of business keeps him at the office late at nights, from Sunday to Thursday. He is the one who opened the way to the world of forex trading for me. The crash course gave me a deep insight of the basics and to be completely honest, it was quite overwhelming. There are a lot of stories about self-made forex traders and while I believe that they do exist, I think their path was a lot more demanding than simply placing a few trades without knowledge and watching their balance grow.

The next few weeks’ I spend quite a few time to explore the forex market because my interest was high. I always loved to learn something new which challenged me and forex trading fit the criteria. One thing many may ignore about forex trading is that you can actually earn a great amount of income without ever placing a trade. One of my friends started to work for a cosmetics company and she started to organize weekly meetings where she would introduce potential clients to the products sold. This is where I my business idea.

Nikola was my firsts top and I asked him about an affiliation with his firm. They were an introducing broker for PaxForex and he took one afternoon to talk me thorough the opportunities which I could explore. I signed up as an affiliate with PaxForex and also with Nikola’s firm. Next I talked to my friend and asked if we could use her meetings to introduce potential clients to forex trading and I offered her a commission for this. We decided to work together in this area which ensured me a steady flow of potential clients and we created a presentation which was appealing to young women who wanted to create and independent lifestyle.

Our targeted approach started to take off slowly, but our direction was good. Obviously, my first three clients were my flat-mates who engaged Nikola’s firm to manage their forex account at PaxForex. We expanded this forex partnership with my friend at her cosmetics venture and after a few meetings, the regulars warmed up to the idea. The biggest lesson I want to share with you is that you need to take care of your clients before they become clients. It takes time and care, never push but work with their pace. Good things don’t come easy or fast, but those who work dedicated and smart will be able to succeed.

Over the past fourteen years I was able to expand my affiliate network to over 120 active traders. I am happy to work together with PaxForex as they have offered me plenty of support along the way and helped my build my business. We grew together which was very important to me. I also continue to work with my now husband Nikola’s firm as an independent advisor. This double affiliation was a blessing to me and allowed me to create my own path to success. I can only encourage anyone reading this to truly take the time and figure out which forex path is the right one for them.