Turning Setbacks Into Success: The Story of Andrew Antiles and Graystone Trading

Andrew Antiles, founder of Graystone Trading, has a remarkable story of resilience, mentorship, and financial success. From his early trading days as a teenager to leading a successful financial education company, Andrew’s journey highlights how setbacks can be transformed into powerful comebacks.

Andrew’s interest in trading was shaped by his father, Seth Antiles, a seasoned asset manager and hedge fund trader. In 2008, Seth’s decision to short global markets during the financial crisis made his fund the top performer in the U.S. That success left a lasting impression on young Andrew. By 17, Andrew was already immersed in the stock market, using online resources to learn the ropes.

His early trading success was promising. With $5,000 in savings, he quickly turned it into $20,000. Adding his Bar Mitzvah gift money, he grew his account to $70,000 within six months. Andrew felt on top of the world and believed he was destined to be the next stock market millionaire.

But that confidence would soon lead to failure.

Andrew’s success quickly turned into hubris. His approach lacked risk management, and soon he lost everything — his original $5,000, the $15,000 from his Bar Mitzvah, and all the profits he’d accumulated. It was a painful blow, but it was a lesson he needed to learn the hard way.

During this time, Andrew’s life took another unexpected turn. He moved to Western Canada to pursue a hockey career, but a concussion followed by a wrist injury sidelined his athletic dreams. With his trading account drained and his sports ambitions dashed, Andrew found himself in a dark place, struggling with depression and anger.

Instead of staying stuck in despair, Andrew took a job with DoorDash to support himself. The long hours gave him time to reflect, and he began consuming personal development content. One key lesson he absorbed was the importance of risk management—something his father had always emphasized but Andrew had ignored in his first year of trading.

In a pivotal conversation, Andrew’s father explained that success in the stock market wasn’t about using fancy indicators or hoping for quick gains. Instead, it was about managing risk and focusing on consistent, small wins over time. Armed with this new mindset, Andrew developed a risk management system that allowed him to trade more methodically, eliminating emotional decision-making from the process.

Six months after re-entering the market with his new approach, Andrew’s trading was consistently profitable, earning him between $3,000 and $10,000 per month. By the time he reached university, Andrew was making $10,000 to $30,000 per month while balancing his studies and college hockey.

In December 2020, a conversation with a friend inspired Andrew to teach others the strategies that had transformed his trading career. That’s when he founded Graystone Trading — a platform designed to teach everyday people how to make money in the stock market without relying on risky, get-rich-quick schemes. Graystone Trading now serves over 3,000 students and empowers them to build additional sources of income using the same risk management strategies employed by the world’s most successful investors.

For Andrew, the key to financial success lies in risk management. He advises new traders to avoid chasing quick profits, which often lead to heavy losses. Instead, focus on consistency and the long-term compounding of small wins. "If you try to get rich quick in the stock market, you’ll most likely lose money," he says. "Consistency and a disciplined approach will help you create a reliable income stream."

This philosophy has been the cornerstone of Graystone Trading’s success, where students learn to apply risk management principles and trade with confidence.

Andrew’s vision for the future of Graystone Trading is ambitious. He aims to teach 100,000 people how to create reliable income from the stock market and make Graystone Trading the gold standard in online financial education. His goal is to provide ordinary people with the tools to achieve financial freedom, just as he did, without needing to work at a big bank or hedge fund.

By democratizing financial education, Andrew hopes to help others achieve the same success and independence that transformed his life.

In addition to trading and business success, Andrew is also embracing new chapters in his personal life. Recently married and living in Miami, he is committed to building a meaningful life rooted in his Orthodox Jewish faith. Alongside his business aspirations, he looks forward to deepening his relationship with G-d, cherishing time with his family, and strengthening the bonds with those he holds dear.