Roger Woodend: Amazon, MBA’s & 75+ Countries

 

Meet Roger Woodend…

Roger Woodend is the Director of Strategic Sales at Amazon Web Services (AWS).

He was born in Belfast in 1975 and was raised in a council-estate in Coleraine before eventually leaving NI to study Politics in Glasgow.

Since then he’s lived and worked all over the world for telecom titans, tech-startups and even found the time to do an MBA before taking up his current role with Amazon today.

In today’s episode we talk about:

  • Losing his dad at a young age

  • How visiting Hong Kong changed his life

  • Why he set up the New York City Northern Ireland Football Supporters Club

  • Having dinner with the Australian Prime Minister

  • And why the Harbour Bar in Portrush is his favourite place in the world.

Check it out.

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Roger Woodend Treasure Trove:

  • What's One Thing Most People Don't Know About You?
    I've been to 75 countries and plan to get to 100 in the next three and a half years.

  • What's Your Favourite Book?
    Born to Run, Bruce Springsteen's autobiography

  • What's Your Favourite Quote?
    “Trust comes on foot, but leaves on horseback”

  • Last but not least, is there anything you'd like us to promote?
    Follow the Northern Ireland New York Supporters Club on Facebook and Twitter.

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Today's episode is part of our collaboration with NI Connections where we catch up with someone incredible from Northern Ireland doing interesting things overseas on the last Monday of every month.

To discover more amazing diaspora stories, check out their website niconnections.com where you can also sign up for their free, monthly newsletter.

How To Listen

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Thanks again to Roger Woodend for taking the time to share his story with us.

See you next time.

— Matt

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Matthew ThompsonNIC