No two days are the same for digital-marketing expert Andrea Dyer Wilson ’99 (MBA ’00), and that’s the way she likes it. As a vice president for the global digital-marketing firm iProspect, Wilson helps high-end fashion and luxury brands, such as Estée Lauder, La Mer, Cartier and Burberry, design, plan and execute digital strategies. After 16 years in the industry, Wilson, who is married to football letterman J.W. Wilson ’00, found a few lessons to share.

Wilson left digital marketing in 2002 for a brief time before realizing how passionate she was about the field.

You have to love what you do to be happy in life. If you are not inspired, challenged and having fun the majority of your career, you’re not going to be happy in life. Make sure you are pushing yourself to continually learn and grow.

The people around you are the most important part of any job. Those are the people you spend more time with than your own family during the work week, and if you aren’t challenged, having fun and enjoying being around your colleagues, you will not feel fulfilled.

Wilson worked for a small agency when a massive global corporation acquired it — a career detour she hadn’t anticipated.

“Focus on creating quality work and making a positive difference.”

Concerning promotions and professional recognition, things tend to work out the way they’re supposed to. I’ve learned that I don’t have to worry about anybody else’s direction or next steps as the whole group evolves. Your time will come — it always does — because the work that you do speaks for itself. Don’t kick and scream and think it’s unfair if people are moving differently than you. Just focus on creating quality work and making a positive difference.

Be kind, always. When someone shows a kindness toward me I didn’t expect, it makes me realize I will do almost anything for that person. They are immediately put in my “good-guy” pile, and I make a mental note to return the favor someday. Showing thoughtfulness, concern and love can be as easy as remembering a detail, writing a note or text or paying a compliment.

“Remind yourself to be thankful for health and for the time you spend with people you love. Be thankful for every second.”

Your gut feeling is usually right. I’m a very type-A person. I overthink everything, and I spend way more time analyzing something than actually just going for it and doing it. I can spend hours contemplating a decision, or I can just go with my gut reaction. I’ve learned that after hours of weighing pros and cons, I always end up coming back to my first reaction.

Things fall into your lap for a reason. Someone up above is always trying to tell you something. When my husband and I stumble onto opportunities, we think, ‘Clearly we have to go for this because it’s random and extremely interesting, so we need to jump on it and not be afraid.’ Luckily, a lot of those opportunities have paid off and enriched our lives.

Inspired by a boss who aimed to make her days challenging and uncomfortable, Wilson learned to be fearless.

Go outside of your comfort zone as often as possible. Don’t be afraid to fail because you will be better and stronger than if you had walked away from that fear. If you live safely your entire life, you may not be as happy as you would be if you took chances or put yourself in a position that makes you really uncomfortable, even though it’s hard.

Life is precious. Remind yourself to be thankful for health and for the time you spend with people you love. Be thankful for every second.

Wilson urges Horned Frogs who are interested in the digital marketing industry to seek connections.

Reach out. Call me! I’m always happy and excited to talk about career paths and give honest insight into what a career looks like in the digital industry.

As told to Rachel Stowe Master