Brad Bird never lost sight of his dreams, which led him to an Oscar for Ratatouille. © Disney/Pixar.

You must be truly passionate about your dreams and have the strength to ignore the experts. In his acceptance speech at the Oscars last month, Brad Bird thanked the expert he ignored:

"I want to thank the Academy and I also want to thank my junior high guidance counselor for a meeting we had where he asked me, ‘What do you want to do with your life?’ And I said, ‘I want to make movies.’ And he said, ‘What else do you want to do with your life?’ And I said, ‘Make movies.’ And he said, ‘What if you couldn't make movies?’ And I said, ‘I'd find a way that I could.’ ‘What if movies didn't exist?’ ‘I'd have to invent them.’

“And it went on like this until we were sick of each other and I only realized just recently that he gave me the perfect training for the movie business.

"I want to thank my wife Liz and my kids. All the dreamers at Pixar and Disney… And all the dreamers who are supporting a rat that dreams…"

Thank you, Brad, and all the other dreamers who ignore the experts, follow their passion, and persist in their vision, whether others think it's a good idea or not. Our world is richer because the dreamers persist.

Pamela Kleibrink Thompson is a recruiter, hiring strategist, career coach and speaker, available for personal consultations and speaking engagements. She worked with Brad Bird, Chris Buck and many other talented, wonderful people in animation on Family Dog in a loft in downtown Los Angeles in 1986. Pamela is traveling to Singapore in March to speak at the Animation Portfolio Workshop sponsored by the Media Development Authority. If you are interested in her professional services as a career coach, speaker, or recruiter, contact her at PamRecruit@q.com or Pambo@q.com.