Power steering lacks power, but doesn’t leak fluid.

I bought my Camry earlier this year and knew it lacked power from the power steering and the guy’s mechanic couldn’t figure out the problem (I was ok with this as I had been driving all winter with my truck lacking power steering, which built my arms quite a bit, lol!). I’m a do-it-yourselfer and have a Chilton’s manual and prefer to do things on my own because I don’t like the thought of being jerked around by a mechanic just because I’m a woman. There aren’t any leaks, but past that I don’t know how to diagnose the problem and don’t want to spend a bunch of money on parts that are still good. I saw from another post that parts and labor would cost over $2k for a power steering pump and rack replacement, I live up here in AK, so I think it may be more for me if I went with someone else doing it. Why would I lack power in my steering if I don’t have any leaks?