Werk It Girls Podcast

Sharon walked into a networking event and watched the room split cleanly by gender before the panel even started — one man there because he'd been laid off and needed the room, two women there out of curiosity alone. By the end of the night, that split explained everything: who approached the speakers, who got credit for their AI-powered work, and who didn't.
In this episode, Sharon traces the line from a hallway conversation to an AI panel to Harvard Business Review's research on the AI competence penalty. The instinct to ask a real question is a skill women already have. The only question left is who decides to say so out loud.
Find your networking archetype at the Networking Assessment — tools.werkitgirls.com/networking-assessment.html
Women in AI. Showing up. Werk It Girls.
Research referenced: Chatoo, Z. Code For Good Now résumé study — women judged twice as incompetent as men for identical AI-assisted job applications. completeaitraining.com/news/women-who-use-ai-on-job-applications-face-harsher-judgment
Acar, O.A. & Gai, P.J. (2025). "The Hidden Penalty of Using AI at Work." Harvard Business Review. hbr.org/2025/08/research-the-hidden-penalty-of-using-ai-at-work
Original score composed by Owen Sartori at F5 Soundhouse, Minneapolis.

Sarah McNally built Lady Boss during the pandemic, because women were rising alone and she decided they wouldn't have to anymore. In this half of the conversation, she and Sharon talk about what networking looks like when it stops being performance — reciprocity, timing, and the discomfort of asking for help before you feel ready.
Sharon brings her own scene: Walking into an AI event and seeing 27 men. Sarah's answer reframes it — networking isn't cringy work you force yourself through. It's finding something you're genuinely interested in and following it toward people.
This episode launches the Networking Assessment — a free tool that scores how you show up across five clusters (Network Expansion, Follow-Through, Ask Clarity, Visibility, and Reciprocity) and surfaces your networking archetype: The Connector, The Cultivator, The Opportunity Seeker, or The Community Builder.
Find your archetype at the Networking Assessment — tools.werkitgirls.com/networking-assessment.html
Part 1 on branding, is live now too.
Original music score by Owen Sartori, F5 Soundhouse, Minneapolis.

Your brand isn't the logo, the tagline, or the Instagram grid — but it's talking, whether you're paying attention or not.
Sharon sits down with Sarah McNally, Director of Talent at Endeavor Air and founder of Lady Boss, to talk about what personal brand means: not your intentions, but the experience people have with you.
Spoiler: credibility is easy to lose and hard to earn back. Sarah knows exactly what that costs.
Part 2, on networking, is live now too.
Personal brand concepts referenced in this conversation draw on David McNally and Karl Speak's Be Your Own Brand.
Original score by Owen Sartori, F5 Soundhouse, Minneapolis.

A few weeks ago, I walked myself into an Applied AI event in Minneapolis.
Twenty-seven men. Three women. A keynote speaker who came in with a why — and a room full of people determined to pull him into the how.
This is what I saw. And what almost didn't happen.
EP02 is a story about a woman who almost didn't come back. A graduate student who didn't wait for anyone. And one front-row decision that changed everything.
If you've ever walked into a room and felt like a visitor in your own field — this one's for you.
Women in AI. Showing up. Werk It Girls.
 
Continuation: EP04 — The bigger story. Why that room looked the way it did. What the data says about women and AI. And what it's going to cost us if we keep waiting to be invited.

What if the loudest voice holding you back isn't your boss, your industry, or anyone around you — but the one inside your own head?
In this first episode, Sharon sits down with Mary Quirk — scientist, writer, and longtime friend — to talk about the inner critic that tells you you're too much in one lane and not enough in another. Mary built a career at the University of Minnesota Medical School doing both: rigorous science and the kind of writing that makes that science land with real people. This conversation is about how she did it — and what she'd tell her younger self.
Mary references Tara Mohr's 2014 book Playing Big, which she credits as a turning point in quieting her own inner critic. If this episode resonated with you, it's a great next read.
🎵 Original score composed by Owen Sartori at F5 Soundhouse, Minneapolis.

Have you ever started a conversation with "I know you're busy" or "hate to bug you"?
Sharon Mickelson noticed something in those words. While men were out there asking for advice, building their networks, and moving forward — women were going it alone. Not because they didn't have questions. But because somewhere along the way they got the message that asking was a burden.
That gap doesn't stay still. It widens.
This is Episode 0 — the why behind Werk It Girls. In this short episode, Sharon introduces what this podcast is, who it's for, and what's really been getting in the way of women's careers. Spoiler: it's not your skills, your experience, or whether you're ready.
🎵 Original score composed by Owen Sartori at F5 Soundhouse, Minneapolis.

Meet Sharon Mickelson — senior leader, straight talker, and the voice you didn't know you needed 🔥 Stop guessing and start playing the game on your terms. The game hasn't changed — but you're about to...
🎵 Original score composed by Owen Sartori at F5 Soundhouse, Minneapolis.