Sydney entrepreneur Paul Burkett takes the high road in defamation case
Industry: Business
Renowned Sydney entrepreneur Paul Burkett was recommended by legal counsel to pursue defamation after a 2017 incident with the media. Despite the recommendations, he decided to move forward and use his experience as fuel for helping others overcome hardships in business and life.
Sydney, Australia (PRUnderground) June 6th, 2019
The story which aired on ‘Sunday Night’ framed Paul as the ‘headman’ of a global organisation which was under scrutiny for its sales work for well-known charity organisations. The company in question had multiple divisions including electricity, food and telecommunications. Each operated as an individual businesses, separate from each other.
‘I was the electricity guy, but I was scapegoated for issues that happened in a completely different sector, in different businesses – which was in regards to charities,’ Burkett said.
As the definition explains, defamation is the act of communicating false statements about a person that injure the reputation of that person.
‘My kids even said to me, why are they talking to you about this stuff and not all of the people working in and in charge of those businesses?’
‘I think I was picked as a scapegoat because I was the only one with a profile and I was also known for doing flamboyant keynote talks at the companies seminars, making me an easy target.’
Mr Burkett acknowledged that the company he was involved with had some questions to answer and he doesn’t condone all of their practices, but explained that his exploitation by the media had significant personal and business impacts.
‘The experience seriously impacted my career, other businesses I was involved in, my personal life and even mental health – I had to pick up the pieces of my life from the fallout for a long time.’
Drawing on his experience and setbacks, Paul is now driven by the purpose of helping people ‘fail forward’ and bounce back from the inevitable hurdles in business and life.
‘It is all about empowering people in their business and life and coaching on how to fail without smashing your face on the pavement,’ he said.
Mr Burkett has also overcome a heart condition with exercise and now owns a gym equipment business, an F45 and has stakes in a boxing gym. He has also been instrumental in developing sales teams and start-ups across multiple industries – consulting, speaking and ultimately driving business outcomes.
About PB Life
PB Life has been instrumental in developing sales teams and start-ups across multiple industries – consulting, speaking and ultimately driving positive business and personal outcomes.
