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How A Software Engineer Turned Adversity Into Impact episode artwork

Feb 9, 2026 32 min

How A Software Engineer Turned Adversity Into Impact

from We Are PoWEr Podcast Hosted by powered by Simone Roche MBE and Northern PoWEr Women

In this episode of the WeArePoWEr Podcast, we’re joined by Asia Sharif, a Software Engineer, public speaker, mentor and all-round force of nature. Asia shares the story behind the origin of her name, how identity has shaped her confidence and her honest experiences with imposter syndrome in tech. She reflects on building self-belief, navigating underrepresentation in engineering and the importance of mentorship in STEM, while also breaking down her path into coding and software engineering and how public speaking became a tool for impact and advocacy. She also opens up about her battle with cancer, the challenges she faced and the mindset that helped her keep moving forward. What to expect in this episode: The story and meaning behind Asia’s name Imposter syndrome & building self-belief Mentorship in STEM and engineering Coding, software engineering & tech careers Public speaking and confidence Asia’s cancer journey, resilience & recovery Awards, achievements & success Find out more about We Are PoWEr here. 💫

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In this episode of the WeArePoWEr Podcast, we’re joined by Asia Sharif, a Software Engineer, public speaker, mentor and all-round force of nature. Asia shares the story behind the origin of her name, how identity has shaped her confidence and her honest experiences with imposter syndrome in tech. She reflects on building self-belief, navigating underrepresentation in engineering and the importance of mentorship in STEM, while also breaking down her path into coding and software engineering an...

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How A Software Engineer Turned Adversity Into Impact

0:00 32:50

Chapters

  1. 0:00 Welcome And Guest Introduction
  2. 1:27 Childhood Ambitions And Early Role Models
  3. 3:35 Choosing Engineering And Naming Story
  4. 5:17 Family Resilience As Motivation
  5. 6:02 What A Software Engineer Actually Does
  6. 6:49 Pivot From Sales To Coding During Lockdown
  7. 8:33 Bootcamps, Mentoring, And Rapid Upskilling
  8. 9:35 Imposter Syndrome And Finding A Mentor
  9. 12:18 Practical Tactics To Tame Self Doubt
  10. 14:01 Speaking In Schools And Broadening Access
  11. 16:05 Stage Four Cancer And Stem Cell Journey
  12. 18:12 Donor Shortages And Registering To Save Lives
  13. 20:21 Returning To Work And Rebuilding Identity
  14. 22:12 Strength, Empathy, And Owning The Role Model
  15. 24:27 Recognition, Awards, And Why They Matter
  16. 26:03 The Power Jar And Hidden Talents
  17. 27:13 Superpower, Next Goals, And TEDx
  18. 28:30 Closing And Calls To Subscribe

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This episode is 32 minutes long.

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This episode was published on February 9, 2026.

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