This Is Woman's Work with Nicole Kalil

Talking about sex shouldn’t feel like a performance review you didn’t prepare for — and yet, for so many women, it does. In this episode of This Is Woman’s Work, Nicole Kalil gets publicly uncomfortable (on purpose) to talk about what we’re really craving when it comes to sex — not hotter, not louder, not more performative… but healthier.

Joined by internationally renowned human sexuality professor and author Dr. Nicole McNichols, this conversation cuts through cultural noise, outdated scripts, and unrealistic expectations around women’s desire. Together, they unpack why exhaustion, mental overload, hormonal shifts, and decades of conditioning disconnect women from their bodies — and how to rebuild a sex life rooted in honesty, agency, and pleasure.

This episode isn’t about doing more or trying harder. It’s about unlearning shame, understanding your body, honoring your evolving needs, and creating a roadmap for sex that works for you — at every stage of life.

What We Cover:


Why “hotter sex” is the wrong goal — and what healthier sex actually looks like


The mental load, exhaustion, and emotional labor killing desire (and what to do about it)


Dr. McNichols’ Hierarchy of Sexual Needs and why pleasure starts internally


Getting out of your head and back into your body (hello, sexual mindfulness)


Mismatched libidos, desire discrepancies, and how to stop making them mean something’s wrong


When curiosity, communication, and consent unlock deeper connection

Healthy sex isn’t about performance, frequency, or checking boxes — it’s about presence, permission, and pleasure that evolves with you. When women reclaim agency over their bodies and desires, connection deepens, shame loosens its grip, and intimacy becomes something we get to experience — not something we’re expected to perform.

Thank you to our sponsors!

Sex is a skill. Beducated is where you learn it. Visit https://beducate.me/bg2602-womanswork and use code womanswork for 50% off the annual pass.

Connect with Dr. Nicole McNichols:

Book: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/You-Could-Be-Having-Better-Sex/Nicole-McNichols/9781668053775 

IG: https://www.instagram.com/nicole_thesexprofessor/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@nicole_thesexprofessor

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Access, Agency & The Abortion Underground with Rebecca Grant | 358


 051 / Connecting To Your Sexuality with Aylen Doucette

How To Listen When Your Parts Speak (IFS Therapy + Ancestral Wisdom) with Tamala Floyd | 376

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If you’ve ever turned a simple request into a full-blown production — congratulations, you’re one of us. In this short, unfiltered episode of This Is Woman’s Work, Nicole Kalil shares a painfully relatable story involving kindergarten, lasagna, glitter, and a catastrophic failure to ask a clarifying question.

This episode is a reminder (and a loving call-out) for all the women who default to over-functioning, over-planning, and over-complicating things that were never meant to be that deep. Sometimes the bravest, smartest move isn’t doing more — it’s asking the damn question.

Because clarity beats chaos. And noodles in a box beat four trays of lasagna.

If you’re spiraling over something that feels way harder than it should be, this episode will hit you right in the overachiever feels. A funny, human reminder that better communication — and one simple question — can save you a whole lot of unnecessary stress.

Thank you to our sponsors!

Sex is a skill. Beducated is where you learn it. Visit https://beducate.me/pd2550-womanswork and use code womanswork for 50% off the annual pass.

Connect with Nicole:

Subscribe to Nicole’s Substack: https://nicolekalil.substack.com/ 

Join the Inner Circle: https://nicolekalil.myflodesk.com/newsletter 

Related Podcast Episode

Yell for Help | Unfiltered & Unhinged

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If you’ve ever wondered how some people build businesses that last—this episode is your blueprint.

Nicole sits down with Neri Karra-Silliman (author, advisor, entrepreneur, and Oxford entrepreneurship expert) to unpack what immigrant entrepreneurs can teach all of us about confidence, courage, resilience, and creating businesses that thrive for generations—even when you’re not starting with privilege, connections, or a trust fund.

In this episode, we get into:


Why immigrant-founded businesses often endure longer—and why nobody’s been asking the right questions


The difference between an entrepreneur and a pioneer (hint: pioneers build what didn’t exist before)


How companies like WhatsApp and Duolingo started with impact-first problems 


The 8 principles of business longevity inspired by immigrant entrepreneurs, including:


Cross-cultural bridging (innovation happens when you live in more than one world)


Community as currency (relationships are the wealth)


“Frying in your own oil” (aka self-sufficiency before outside money makes you lazy)


Shared values over growth-at-all-costsRejection as fuel (“no” is the beginning of negotiation)


Luck as a skill (recognizing moments and playing your hand)


Faith as the foundation for risk, reinvention, and resilience


And the most overlooked glue of all: kindness

Immigrants aren’t the problem—they’re the blueprint. This conversation will change how you think about risk, reinvention, and what it really takes to build something that lasts (with profit and purpose).

Thank you to our sponsors!

Sex is a skill. Beducated is where you learn it. Visit https://beducate.me/pd2550-womanswork and use code womanswork for 50% off the annual pass.

Connect with Neri:

Website: https://www.nerikarrasillaman.com/

Book: https://www.amazon.com/Pioneers-Principles-Longevity-Immigrant-Entrepreneurs/dp/1394304056/ref= 

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Fun and work in the same sentence? For most of us, that’s a “does not compute” moment… and that’s exactly why this conversation matters.

Workplace culture expert Bree Groff (author of Today Was Fun: A Book About Work. Seriously.) breaks down why we’ve been trained to treat joy like it’s “unprofessional,” why busyness is murdering brilliance, and how to start building workplaces (and workdays) that are actually fit for human life.

In this episode, we get into:


Why “hard” doesn’t automatically mean “valuable” (and why we need to stop romanticizing suffering)


The two toxic extremes:


“Work is called work for a reason” (aka: misery cosplay)


“Do what you love and you’ll never work a day” (aka: burnout bait)


Bree’s “third way”: work can be a nice way to spend our time on the planet—not a daily punishment


Why people don’t buy your work because you suffered—they buy it because it creates value (pain is optional)


The “infinite workday” problem: nonstop meetings, constant interruptions, and zero space to think


Why brilliance requires spaciousness: “do nothing” time, thinking time, walking time, shower-epiphany time


How conformity kills creativity (and why “professionalism” can be a creativity straightjacket)


The case against delayed gratification when it turns into: “I’ll live later” (spoiler: later is not guaranteed)

Wrap-up: Work doesn’t have to be miserable to be meaningful—and if your job demands your whole life in exchange for a paycheck, that’s not ambition… that’s a bad deal wearing a blazer.

Thank you to our sponsors!

Sex is a skill. Beducated is where you learn it. Visit https://beducate.me/pd2550-womanswork and use code womanswork for 50% off the annual pass.

Connect with Bree:

Website: https://www.breegroff.com/home 

Book: https://www.breegroff.com/book 

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Women’s bodies get endlessly analyzed from the outside… while our internal health gets treated like an optional group project nobody studied for. Cool cool cool.

In this episode of This Is Woman’s Work, Nicole Kalil goes deep on the perimenopause/menopause mess: the years of brain fog, 3 a.m. wake-ups, mood swings, weight gain, and the medical equivalent of a shrug. Enter Dr. Sarah Daccarett, hormone specialist and aging expert, to explain why so many women are confused, dismissed, and exhausted—and why hormone replacement therapy (HRT) should be viewed as foundational health support, not a “last resort once you’re fully miserable.”

What We Cover


Why most women (including doctors) are confused about perimenopause + HRT—and why that’s not your fault


The “natural” misconception: why Sarah argues HRT can be more natural than the supplement aisle


Why waiting for hot flashes is like waiting for your car to explode before you change the oil


Hormones as the “CEO of the body”: brain, bones, metabolism, sleep, libido, digestion—ALL of it


The real problem with “just fix your gut / cortisol / diet” advice when your hormones are the actual root issue


PCOS, insulin resistance, and why “just lose weight” advice can be straight-up useless


Why hormone testing can be wildly unreliable—and why symptoms still matter


Medical gaslighting: how women lose trust in themselves when the system keeps minimizing them

If you’ve been white-knuckling your way through perimenopause symptoms, you’re not weak—you’re under-supported. Better info + better care isn’t “extra,” it’s the bare minimum.

Thank you to our sponsors!

Get 20% off your first order at curehydration.com/WOMANSWORK with code WOMANSWORK — and if you get a post-purchase survey, mention you heard about Cure here to help support the show! 

Sex is a skill. Beducated is where you learn it. Visit https://beducate.me/pd2550-womanswork and use code womanswork for 50% off the annual pass.

Connect with Sarah:

Website: www.innerbalance.com

$50 off Discount code: PODCASTDRSARAH

Related Podcast Episodes:


Don’t Let Your Doctor Kill You: The New Hormone Solution with Dr. Erika Schwartz | 305 

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Share the Love:

If you found this episode insightful, please share it with a friend, tag us on social media, and leave a review on your favorite podcast platform!

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