Philistus completed matric in 1999 and was active in the school community by taking part in drama and cricket.

She then followed her dream of studying IT. Enrolled with TNG and completed her National Diploma in Information Technology in 2003. Phillistus was involved in modelling while at TNG. She completed her experiential training with Department of Agriculture and was exposed to some excellent practical details. Phillistus has exposure to C++, Visual basic, Java, Oracle and Delphi.

While searching for full time employment, Phillistus worked at Busiswe Personnel as a data processor team leader for two months.