The first deaf lawyer from birth in France, Virginie is an author and motivational speaker, presenter of the B-Inspired show on B-smart.

A passionate and committed woman in her professional and private life, she is the living demonstration that "Everything is possible, including with a disability!".

She was named one of the 40 inspiring women 2020 by Forbes, one of the 109 Mariannes in March 21 and one of the top Voice Linkedin in 2020 and 2022.

Virginie Delalande is a French personality born on August 18, 1980. She was born profoundly deaf and never heard the sound of her voice. She was told that she would never speak, that she would not be able to follow school or pass her baccalaureate, or get any diplomas. Yet, this very special voice is now going around the world and forcefully demonstrating that it is possible to build the life you want, even with obstacles that seem insurmountable.

Virginie's parents discovered her deafness when she was nine months old, when a tractor lost its harrow on the road in a terrible crash, without the baby flinching. When she was diagnosed, the doctors already condemned the fate of this little girl by telling her devastated parents that she would never hear or speak. Fortunately, her parents refused to accept this fate and decided that she would succeed despite everything.

Throughout her childhood and adolescence (in reality, 20 years in total), Virginie underwent thousands of hours of speech therapy to learn to speak at a rate of three sessions per week. To communicate with others, Virginie also learned to read lips. She has also spoken French sign language since she was 18.

For 5 years, from CM1 to 4th grade inclusive, Virginie benefits from coders in Langue Française Parlée Complétée (LfPC) who come to code what her teachers say. No effort to follow in class, a real joy. And she has at her side, among her classmates, another deaf person. Then from the third grade, she returns to the traditional system to prepare to study in a less "welcoming" context.

At 18, Virginie has a cochlear implant fitted which is supposed to give her a little hearing and allow her to discover the telephone. Unfortunately, the implant is poorly positioned and does not give the expected results at all. She even has terrible migraines every day and decides, after 4 years of various adjustments to try to find a solution, to no longer wear it. This ear is therefore out of order and Virginie only has one ear fitted, with a device which, failing to allow her to understand or recognize a noise, allows her to perceive the sound environment in which she is. Indeed, without the device, the only noise she hears is that of a plane taking off. With it, she can discern whether there is noise around her or not and decide to speak louder if necessary.

After obtaining her scientific baccalaureate, Virginie entered law school at the Panthéon-Assas University in the 2nd arrondissement of Paris5. Although she informed them of her deafness, no professor agreed to give her their oral courses in paper form and she had to find well-written courses on her own. Fortunately, she found extraordinary classmates who helped her6. She nevertheless succeeded in her studies year after year, passed the entrance exam to the bar school with success and became a lawyer but decided not to plead in court for fear of not understanding and doing her client a disservice. She then chose the path of counseling rather than litigation5 and then became a lawyer in an insurance company.

In 2017, the director Laëtitia Moreau made a documentary about Virginie Delalande, called L'éloquence des sourds. For about fifty minutes, Virginie's life is retraced from her childhood to her law degree and then her professional life in business. Virginie addresses frankly the difficulties encountered during her life but also the prejudices that she and deaf people encounter.

In January 2019, Virginie started her own business as a coach. She supports anyone who wants to break down their glass ceilings, to dare to dream big and allow themselves to reach for the stars. The majority of her clientele is made up of entrepreneurs and employees in companies who want to progress to a position that suits them.

In 2019, she participated in the Grand Oral, presented by Laurent Ruquier on France 2. This show consists of putting twelve candidates with very different profiles (age, origins, professions, etc.) in competition in an eloquence competition. She reached the final but was beaten by Bill François.

In July 2020, she was selected among the 40 inspiring women in France according to Forbes and in November, among the 25 Linkedin Top Voices 2020 France.

She also released her book Abandonner? Jamais!, which is an autobiographical story peppered with keys to personal development. Virginie shares her own journey in complete transparency to allow any reader to access the behind the scenes of the woman she has become today and demonstrate that we can all achieve it.

Since May 2022, she has hosted a television show "B-inspired" on the BSmart channel. A talk show in which she invites inspiring personalities, twice a month.

In July 2022, she made the cover of Forbes magazine in France.