For more than 15 years, Bethany Skorik has advised Fortune 50 executives, worked across international diplomatic and public affairs environments, and shaped communications in settings where every word and impression carries weight.

Her career has taken her into rooms where business, government, and public perception intersect. She has led White House visits, traveled internationally as a spokesperson for a global defense contractor, advised on diplomatic communications, and worked with the media to help organizations tell their stories. Her training in international business protocol complements that experience, bringing an understanding of cultural expectations and professional presence to her strategic counsel. Together, these experiences have given her a firsthand understanding of how messaging, preparation, and presence can shape an outcome—particularly when the cameras are rolling.

Bethany believes the most valuable counsel is not always the most comfortable to hear. She is a trusted sounding board for leaders, offering candid feedback in private so they can communicate with greater confidence and credibility in public. Whether preparing an executive for a media interview, helping a leadership team connect with employees, or shaping a message for important stakeholders, her focus is the same: helping capable leaders become powerful communicators.

Through it all, Bethany developed a conviction that now defines her work: the knowledge practiced in influential rooms shouldn’t be reserved for the people already in them. Talent and expertise deserve to be recognized, but competence doesn’t always speak for itself.

She founded Ascent Protocol Group to bring the communication strategies, executive presence, and principles of protocol practiced in those rooms to the leaders and professionals preparing to enter them.