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The Silicon Valley Tech Podcast

Wendy Fitzwilliam

Miss Universe 1998 and former UN Goodwill Ambassador

Guest, The Silicon Valley Tech Podcast

Wendy Fitzwilliam won Miss Universe 1998 while in her final year of law school, in only the second pageant she had ever entered. Modelling since the age of 11 and moot court prepared her for that moment, and she went on to serve as a UN Goodwill Ambassador, becoming known worldwide just as the internet took off.

Today she is building an animation hub in Trinidad and Tobago that serves clients around the world, and champions the country's push into technology. On the show she talks about saying yes to opportunity, keeping an authentic global network, why every leader needs an inner circle that tells them the truth, and how to build a personal or company brand that is willing to evolve.

Photo: John Mathew Smith / celebrity-photos.com, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

On the show

  1. · 19 min

    Part 2 - Interview of Wendy Fitzwilliam

    In the second part of the conversation, Wendy Fitzwilliam talks about working with Donald Trump, who owned the Miss Universe organisation during her reign, and why every leader needs an inner circle that will tell them the truth. She describes Trinidad and Tobago's push into technology, the University of Trinidad and Tobago, and the animation hub she is building to serve clients around the world — then closes with her advice on building a personal or company brand that is authentic and willing to evolve.

  2. · 21 min

    Part 1 - Interview of Wendy Fitzwilliam

    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.