Cheryl Walker-Robertson is the executive director of Protocol International, a corporate etiquette, protocol training and professional development consultancy. Protocol International serves clients across a diverse spectrum; including Fortune 500 business, government, education, entertainment organizations and much more. The Saint Augustine’s College graduate utilizes her expertise in protocol to help companies elevate their image and better understand how to navigate multicultural environments.
“My company is a consulting company, we’re also experts in protocol and etiquette,” Robertson explains. “We’re also proficient in cultural competency and cultural curiosity. So my clients hire me to either run projects…or they hire me to enhance the professional image of their employees or to manage their signature programs.”
Beginning her career as an international flight attendant for Pan-America Airlines, Walker-Robertson came to understand the particulars of international protocol via her training and her duties as a trainer of other flight attendants. “We often put people in situations where we have them doing things but they don’t know what’s expected of them,” she says. “So it’s my job, my mission and my passion to help people get respect and confidence about things that they do [through] understanding of those unwritten rules.”
“My clients really appreciate my style and my knowledge [regarding] protocol and etiquette and how to treat people whether their cultures are the same as mine or not,” she says. “And they really appreciate the fact that I add a little diplomacy to what I do.”
“What I love most about what I do is the relationships that I have the opportunity to have,” explains Walker-Robertson. “My relationships with my clients–I cherish them. I love the relationship with people who participate in my workshops, and people who I interact with via my consulting business. It’s a wonderful thing to see someone that you haven’t seen in 20 years and you still have that warm feeling because you know the last time you saw them, you developed a fantastic relationship.”
“My company is all about developing and making great relationships,” she adds. “And being able to introduce other people who also can garner great relationships. I take a lot of pride in that.”
