Asal Zara was born in Tehran and moved to the Netherlands at the age of two, growing up between cultures.
Her Persian roots shaped her emotional depth and sensitivity, while Dutch life gave her directness, independence, and a strong sense of personal freedom. That duality has defined both her character and her work.
Freedom, for Asal, has never been a luxury but a necessity. At sixteen, she left home to build a life on her own terms, a decision that formed the backbone of her independence and resilience. Creativity became her language early on: she writes, photographs, directs, and conceptualises, using storytelling as a way to understand people and the world around her. At nineteen, she founded and ran an online magazine dedicated to art, culture, and ideas, long before digital storytelling became mainstream. A few years later, she made another defining choice: selling her apartment, closing her business, and leaving with only a backpack, a camera, and a laptop.
She spent years travelling alone through more than forty countries, living with locals and immersing herself deeply in different cultures. Those years shaped her lifelong fascination with psychology, human behaviour, and the quiet forces that drive people’s lives. Alongside this inner exploration, movement and martial arts became grounding anchors, offering discipline, strength, and balance. Her Side of the Stories is the natural culmination of Asal’s life and work a long-form podcast rooted in deep listening, emotional honesty, andcuriosity. Through intimate conversations, she explores identity, resilience, motherhood, trauma, creativity, and what it means to be fully human.
Asal has lived in Ibiza for the past eight years with her partner Andy and their two children. Her work reflects the values she hopes to pass on: authenticity, courage, compassion, and the freedom to live truthfully.
