It wasn’t until Mitchell Long began his career in advertising that he felt he was in the right place. Long, PHD Sydney’s head of strategy and AdNews 2020 Emerging Leader, entered the industry after a lifetime of searching for what he calls his “Goldilocks zone”. From a failed concert violinist, to joke of the school formal, injecting room reject and F-g model, this is the story of how Long eventually found his niche to become the youngest head of strategy in the history of PHD’s global network.
One of three children, Long grew up in a musical family. His parents had met while studying at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, where his grandmother and sister had also studied, so learning an instrument from an early age was a big part of growing up.
“Some of my earliest memories are sitting in the orchestra pit by my mum as a baby and feeling the vibration of Mahler’s Symphony No. 5 belting through the floorboards,” says Long.
He picked up the violin at age five, became the lead violinist of the SBS Youth Chamber Orchestra at 14 and went on to earn his Associate
