One Prop Trader a Day - Meet Drew Mazza: He Quit, Got Rebilled, Then Made $35K in a Month

A I’m Drew Mazza, I’m 22 years old, and I’m from Orange County, California. I trade futures, mainly NQ and YM. I originally started in options, but futures ended up being where I found my edge and consistency.

A I became a funded trader in December 2024. What changed for me was my mindset. Passing the account made me realize the opportunity sitting in front of me. It stopped being about ‘can I pass?’ and became ‘how do I protect this, scale this, and turn this into real payouts?’

A It felt great, but honestly, I stayed very level-headed about it. I didn’t even tell my parents or close friends. Passing was cool, but in my mind, that wasn’t the real win. The real win was getting paid. I knew becoming funded didn’t mean anything if I couldn’t actually turn it into payouts consistently.

A With futures funded accounts, I failed for around six months before getting funded. Before that, most of my bigger failures came from options trading with my own money, where I lost quite a bit trying to force something that wasn’t my style. What kept me going was knowing what was possible. Seeing other people make it made me realize it wasn’t some fantasy. If other people could do it, then so could I, as long as I stopped treating trading emotionally and actually approached it like a business.

A My lowest point was actually right before my first major payouts. I had just lost five fresh 50K funded accounts that I had already passed, and I was completely over it. I genuinely quit. I told myself I was done. Then about a month later, I got billed for those accounts because I thought I had canceled them and didn’t. I was pissed at first, but that mistake ended up changing everything. I passed those same accounts and ended up making over $35,000 in payouts in a single month. Funny how what feels like the worst moment can end up being the turning point.

A Absolutely. Trading messes with you mentally if you let it. My biggest issue was overtrading and forcing setups because I just wanted to make money. When you wake up and the first thing on your mind is charts, entries, setups, wins, losses, it can consume you fast. And losing? Yeah, it can ruin your entire day if you don’t have emotional control. People love pretending they’re emotionless traders, but that’s nonsense. Learning to detach from wins and losses was one of the biggest improvements I ever made.

A I mainly trade NQ and YM. I rarely touch ES because I personally don’t love how it moves. My approach is simple. No indicators, no flashy systems, nothing telling me when to buy or sell. I focus on price action, market structure, Power of Three, change in state of delivery, order blocks, and SMT. For timeframes, I always start high and work down. Weekly, daily, and 4-hour for overall bias and bigger movement. Then 1-hour, 5-minute, and 3-minute for execution and entries. I like keeping trading simple because complexity usually just leads to hesitation.

A I wake up around 6:00 AM since I’m on Pacific time. First thing I do is pray and read the Bible. That helps me start the day with a clear head and reminds me that whether I win or lose, there’s still something to learn. After that, I shower, eat breakfast, and review charts pre-market. Market opens at 6:30 AM for me, but I usually don’t enter immediately. I like letting the market show direction first instead of blindly jumping in. Most of my trades happen between 7:00-8:30 AM, and by around 11:00 AM, I’m usually completely done for the day.

A Not really. Most people assume I’m doing long-term investing or holding stocks. When I explain day trading and prop firms, they kind of understand it, but not fully. Some people think it’s cool. Others look at you like you’re just another young guy chasing internet money. I honestly don’t care much either way. Trading isn’t exactly the kind of profession people immediately respect until they see results.

A Trading has changed a lot for me. Financially, it’s allowed me to make strong money in a relatively short amount of time, reinvest into more accounts, and create more freedom in my life. Mentally, it’s made me more patient, disciplined, and emotionally controlled. Trading forces you to either grow up fast or get humbled repeatedly. The biggest impact though is freedom. I value time more than anything, and trading has given me more control over that.

A The freedom and the upside. Yes, money is a motivator. Anyone saying otherwise is lying. But I don’t trade for status or to tell people I’m a trader. What motivates me most is being able to control my own time. Time is the one thing you can never buy back, and trading gives me a path toward more of it.

A Stop gambling. Stop forcing trades. Stop thinking discipline is optional. I’d tell myself to soak in every lesson, every loss, every mistake, because all of it matters. Most people delay growth because they think they’ll ‘lock in later.’ That mindset kills progress. The faster you become disciplined, consistent, and rule-based, the faster you become profitable.

A First thing I’d do is study the rules and understand the risk parameters completely. Bigger capital doesn’t mean bigger ego. Second, I wouldn’t change my strategy at all. The same system that got me here is the same one I’d use there. Third, I’d focus on building a buffer and protecting the account before worrying about scaling aggressively. The goal with a million-dollar funded account isn’t to flex it. The goal is to keep it, manage it properly, and turn it into long-term payouts.