We had the good fortune of connecting with Rachel Cossar and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Rachel, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking
I love this question:) Life is a balance between safety, and risk. Depending on where you are in life, sometimes you need ore of one than the other, and sometimes, you need a bit of both. From growing up as a gymnast and then as a professional ballet dancer, taking the path less trodden was always a risk. Deciding to focus on a time sensitive career over college was a risk. Putting that kind of daily stress on my body was a risk. However, those risks turned out to be huge benefits in what has come since I hung up my pointe shoes.
After retiring from the ballet in 2016, I became quite risk averse. I was searching for stability. I was facing so much change and reinvention (see my TEDx talk for more on reinvention:) ), that I couldn’t fathom taking a big risk beyond what I was doing everyday.
And then…
I started to feel that itch again – that itch for taking leap of faith towards something I believe in. And that risk was founding Virtual Sapiens – a risk I am now living every day as an entrepreneur and female founder in a very male dominated world.
I feel as alive now as I did when I am dancing and importantly, I find my stability in my relationships and my passion to unlocking access to communication coaching for all professionals.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
My business is a complete evolution from my life as a performer. Virtual Sapiens leverages my experience as a dancer turned body language and presence coach to deliver communication feedback and coaching at a scale never before seen. For many years as I led workshops and private sessions with leaders across the globe, I always wanted to open up access to the crucial skill building around communication.

Without AI and video, what we are building at Virtual Sapiens would be impossible.

The journey to where we are now, with a product out in the market and users and teams using it on a daily basis in video calls (which is still very much the beginning!), has in no way been easy. I faced challenges early on as a solo-non-technical founder running an AI company. Even with my co-founder now on board, we face challenges daily in terms of validating our product market fit, negotiating with our limited dollars and unlimited ideas. It is an invigorating challenge though!

When things are hardest, when it seems we are facing challenge after challenge, I always go back to the reason I started this company – to the possibility of helping millions of professionals communicate and connect in a way that is more authentic and more human.

We believe this is possible at Virtual Sapiens, and we don’t want to settle for less:)

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
OOOOO love this question! My husband and I are actually newcomers to Miami. We arrived here in late October 2021, and quickly feel in love.
When people visit, here is out itinerary.

Welcome drinks/dinner at Lagniappe. For the wine, cheese and live music!

First full day:
Coffee at Vice City Bean
Beach day (we love the spot right outside of W Hotel on Miami Beach)
Uchi Happy Hour
Dante for vinyl listening and delicious cocktails

Second full day:
Wynwood art strolling
(Ice cream at Salt and Straw!)
Get ready for a night out at Faena Theater (Tryst)
Faena Living Room bar

Third day (departure day)
Coffee at Imperial Moto Cafe (for the motorcycles and AMAZING coffee)
Trip to Surfside, tea at Four Seasons
Hang out by our pool

Bye bye!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
So many people…

To all of my early investors and champions.
To my fellow communication experts and coaches who have all been part of important discussions around this tumultuous change in communication in the workplace.
To my Co-founder for believing in this idea enough to take on a big risk himself.
To my family and my partner for daily support.

Website: www.virtualsapiens.co

Instagram: @vsapiens_ai and @rachelonpointe

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachel-cossar-0b982339/

Twitter: @rachelonpointe

Other: https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/02/18/business/how-look-like-you-mean-it-zoom/ https://www.ted.com/talks/rachel_cossar_the_muscle_of_reinvention_building_on_past_identities

Image Credits
Dane Shitagi – Ballerina Project Matthew Stein

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutMiami is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.