A move into the real world while still playing rugby is something players are encouraged by the Rugby Players Association to do.
"They do encourage you almost immediately from when you first start playing to think outside of rugby and what to do if the worst happens or you get let go or injured or something worse like that," he says.
And so he was encouraged to think about his future career while still playing professionally. At first he tried his hand at coaching and sports science, but soon decided it was not for him.
He says he has always loved coaching and mentoring but never on a group level. When he met the business development manager from Brewin Dolphin, his eyes were opened to another potential career that could suit this strengths.
"He was brilliant. When he was talking to me about financial planning, it wasn't just product, product, product. It was very much life planning first.
"So I was lucky in that regard. And I just thought, this sounds really good," he says. The manager then offered to help him with his first exams, "and that was it".
Lewis was a fully qualified financial planner with the Chartered Insurance Institute by the time he retired from rugby. This meant studying before training, between training, and staying after training to study.
After rugby Lewis joined a St James's Place practice and stayed there for 18 months. But he says that did not quite fit, so when a recruiter got in touch he joined TJP.
TJP is a London-based independent advice firm that mostly works with self-employed business owners in the media and entertainment industries, but also has specialisms.
Lewis works in a team of six, underneath a lead adviser, but also serves his own smaller clients, who are mainly sportspeople, some of whom he played with in the past.
"I love looking after them, because it's a way of giving back for me. It doesn't have to be scary, but a lot of times it can be scary to think of what comes after rugby and you know, I feel like I was quite fortunate in having a few good conversations early on in my career.
"And although, like I said, that experience of the two guys retiring was awful for them, it taught me that, you know, I need to actually get on and start this now rather than wait until [the age of] 30/32."
