Quite nice. You've done an excellent job of eliciting and capturing her expression.(posted 8441 days ago)Regard the lack of catchlights, I completely agree with Susan. The nature of the lighting on her faces has me expecting them, but they're not there.
I thought the microphone was some kind of hairstyling tool when I first looked.
The approach you describe sounds reasonable, but while you have the opportunity, try to experiment more with the lighting. I don't mean that you should bring in more lights, but you can easily make big adjustments in the character of the light you have. A big, diffused umbrella can be a very flattering light source (like here), but it can also be a rather boring way to light some subjects.
You're doing your subjects a favor by photographing them. Require a bit more from them in return.