Phil graduated from Frankston High School in 2000, was considering studying medicine, though with a score in the high 90’s, it still wasn’t quite enough to gain entry. He wound up studying Biomedical Science at Melbourne University instead as this was a gateway course. Phil then went on to do an honours year in biochemistry and was offered a PhD scholarship from there; he instead took on a research assistant role for a year before moving in a completely different direction to study a postgraduate Master of Multi-Media at Swinburne. Phil worked creating video content for the AFL website then took on a role with a production agency where he created advertising for a number of big brands. Phil has also worked with MYOB as part of their creative team and is now a Senior Producer with Cengage, a large organisation producing education content for a worldwide market.

Phil came back to school in 2024 to speak to Year 11 students about careers in journalism, media and communications.