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The Silicon Valley Tech Podcast

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Part 1 - Interview of Wendy Fitzwilliam

Wendy Fitzwilliam, Miss Universe 1998 and former UN Goodwill Ambassador

Wendy Fitzwilliam won Miss Universe 1998 while in her final year of law school, in only the second pageant she had ever entered. She tells Shawn Flynn and Sunil S Ranka how modelling since the age of 11 and moot court prepared her for that moment, why saying yes to opportunity matters, and how she has built and kept an authentic global network. She also reflects on becoming known worldwide just as the internet took off, raising her son with grounded values, and how technology — from mobile payments for farmers across Africa to apps like HopStop — is connecting the world.

Part 1 - Interview of Wendy Fitzwilliam

Part 1 - Interview of Wendy Fitzwilliam — with Wendy Fitzwilliam and Sunil S Ranka

0:00 / 21:21

About Wendy

Wendy Fitzwilliam, Miss Universe 1998 from Trinidad and Tobago, joins Shawn Flynn and Sunil S Ranka.

Part 1 - Interview of Wendy Fitzwilliam

Wendy Fitzwilliam, Miss Universe 1998 from Trinidad and Tobago, joins Shawn Flynn and Sunil S Ranka.

  • Going from a pageant newcomer to Miss Universe, and the modelling and moot-court experience that prepared her
  • Saying yes to opportunity and trusting your gut
  • Building and maintaining an authentic network, and how one chance meeting at the United Nations opened doors in Tanzania
  • Becoming a global name just as the internet took off, and the "forever audience" that followed
  • Raising her son with the value of hard work
  • How technology connects the world, from mobile money for farmers across Africa to the next opportunity for Silicon Valley

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