Asal Zara was born in Tehran and grew up in Holland, she’s launched a series of video podcasts exploring womanhood, resilience, and transformation though deeply honest conversations with both globally recognised figures and extraordinary real-life women.
Each episode looks at what it truly means to be human – love, loss, ambition, motherhood, identity, trauma, power, and transformation. In her own words, this is her story.
“I’ve been thinking for a long time about how to tell you this. I could have chosen to write it in the normal journalistic way. But I just felt that this was my opportunity to open up my heart. I’ve lived through many chapters of my life. Some were extremely beautiful, time stood still, I felt so immersed within the moment and my surroundings. Maybe the sound of the birds was louder and more in harmony, the waves were soothing my soul, the colours of the horizon reminded me of the work of Monet. I’ve travelled for years on my own. Just me, my camera, my laptop and my backpack. Writing, making pictures and observing people.
“I’m comfortable with keeping myself company but that hasn’t always been like that. Survive to deserve my existence. The feeling of abandonment has been the main red thread running through my life. Indulged in my own pain, feeling sorry for myself. Such a waste of time, but part of the healing journey I guess. You see, I’m from a humble background. We just had enough food growing up. We were immigrants coming from Iran, moving to the Netherlands. I was so privileged to be raised in an incredible country. The only reason why I’m mentioning this is because I never really had mentors, no people I looked up to. No possible proof that life can actually be better. No one telling me that I have a choice, or even showing me that someone like me has got the slightest chance to live a life of abundance. All I had was a lot of books, which I always escaped into and a strong feeling of wanting to earn significance. I basically wanted to feel worthy and feel loved.
“Living now the life that I live, being able to give my children a life I never knew I would be able to have has made me reflect so much. How I could have avoided feeling so alone for so many times and years. What would have helped me, is to hear other women’s stories, to hear how they have overcome, to hear what they felt and what they did. To see how they turn their pain into something beautiful. I would have loved to have access to such a thing. There is something so powerful about witnessing someone’s story of resilience and overcoming. It really changes you. And so that’s why I created Her Side of the Stories. A podcast where I sit down with the most incredible women I come across, to talk and honour their lives. To feel their highs, their lows, and their journey of transformation. Because at the end one of the biggest realisations of my travels was witnessing that we’re all the same, we go through the same challenges and we long for the same things. We film the episodes in our enchanted forest here on beloved Ibiza, the island Andy, our two kids and I have been lucky enough to call our home for the last 8 years. Our guests range from well-known women to real-life warriors. Let the power of community heal and inspire all of us, it has certainly changed me.
“We release a new conversation every Tuesday at 3PM CET, on YouTube where you can subscribe for free. It’s an honour to be here with you.”
