Lewis Tuff, 28, is one of Business Insider's UK Fintech 35 under 35.He has worked at UBS, Goldman Sachs, Revolut, and now Blockchain.Tuff told Business Insider how he got where he is today and what advice he'd share with those looking to copy his career path.LONDONLewis Tuff is a high-achiever.Tuff, who features on Business Insider's UK Fintech 35 under 35 list, is just 28 but has already worked at UBS, Goldman Sachs, fast-growing fintech startup Revolut, and now Blockchain, a much-vaunted cryptocurrency and blockchain company."I think partly its putting yourself out there," Tuff, an engineer, told Business Insider of his whirlwind career so far. "Many engineers are very technical and laser-focused on building, but then they forget to tell the world about what theyre actually doing."Its one thing to have a company brand and to have people know your business and what products you deliver, but its a whole other thing to have an engineering brand that really resonates with engineers in the marketplace about the kind of technical challenges youre solving, how youre solving them, and the specs youre working with."Business Insider spoke with Tuff to quiz him on any tips he might have for people looking to follow in his footsteps. Here's what he said:'Everyone was like, oh my goodness, what are you doing''Tuff studied artificial intelligence at Manchester University before being "sucked into the investment banking world and post-graduation went straight to UBS," he said.After a few years working as an engineer in the interest rates trading division, he joined Goldman Sachs. Tuff said it was a "much more fast-paced, high pressure, which is the kind of environment I enjoy."Then, after a few years at Goldman, Tuff was approached by an old UBS colleague: Vlad Yatsenko, who was in the process of setting up Revolut, a no-fee foreign exchange card linked to an app."He reached out to me to say were looking for some engineers to kick off this idea we have, would you be interested'" Tuff recalled. "I went in and met the team, which at that time was just Nik and Vlad and one or two other interns on support."Once they told me about their dream ambition and what theyre building, I fell in love with the idea and the product and thought that this was really quite amazing and theres nothing else out there encapsulating all of these services into one nice user experience."His colleagues at Goldman, however, were not so sure."Everyone was like, oh my goodness, what are you doing' They only have a couple of thousand users, why would anyone need it, this is crazy!" he recalls."But, for me, the decision was made easier because I looked around and my path at Goldman was already laid out for me. Thats very boring to know that if you succeed in five years youll be X, in 10 years youll be Y. Youll retire at a certain age and then thats your life over with. Youll look back and say, what did I achieve and what impact did I make' I thought, well, if it all fails in six months Ill have learnt a hell of a lot and I can just go back to Goldman."Tuff believes this willingness to take risks is an important factor that has helped propel his career thus far. In the event, joining Revolut turned out to be a great idea. The startup is now one of the fastest growing in the world and was valued at $1.7 billion in a recent funding round.Tuff spearheaded the launch of a cryptocurrency trading feature in Revolut's app, getting him noticed by Peter Smith, the CEO and founder of Blockchain."We got talking and he told me about what Blockchain is trying to achieve and I was like, wow, the potential here is huge," Tuff said. "Its no longer just improving on the existing infrastructure, its actually kind of redefining how we think about a lot of these financial services. I thought wow, the growth potential here is massive."'Get a mentor'Throughout his career, Tuff believes that developing his network has helped him to advance."Im very keen on getting out there and doing a lot of talks, speaking to people in the industry and getting to know them," he said. "Ive signed up for a lot of events, not just conferences but also things like Code First Girls. I taught a course on Code First Girls."Tuff also stresses the importance of mentorship: "Something Ive found invaluable at every stage of my career is to get a mentor. When youre in a corporate environment thats much easier because usually there are programmes in place."Then when I stepped into Revolut, you lose that structure. So I went out and sought to find a mentor. Just through my network I asked around and found one. I think the key piece of advice is if you dont ask, itll never happen. Ive been continually surprised by how much people are willing to help you if you just ask them for help. Ive had mentors throughout my career who have been pivotal in my decision making and progression."'Breaks from the day-to-day are important'While Tuff said he enjoyed the pressure of Goldman Sachs and Revolut is known to have an intense working culture, he believes downtime is actually an important factor in his success."You need to be quite strict about your own schedule and priorities. When Im at work, then Im all in and really focused on delivery."But then I make sure that I make time in the evenings and weekends to take my mind away from that. Having that kind of headspace and breaks from the day-to-day are important. So long weekends or trips away, unplugging. I make a point of if I go away, not checking slack or emails by the pool every day because then youre just constantly thinking about it."The danger of not doing this is that "people burn out and then its likely youre going to make suboptimal decisions because you have less space to think about it," Tuff said.SEE ALSO:Meet the 35 most exciting young entrepreneurs, engineers, and advisors in UK fintechDON'T MISS:RANKED: The 27 fintech unicorns from around the worldJoin the conversation about this storyNOW WATCH: 80% of start-up money goes to three states ' here's what one visionary is doing to help spread the wealth
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