Her Side of the Stories

My Mother Couldn't Save Me | FGM Survivor At 5 | Model & Author Djabu Balde | Her Side of the Stories

When Model & Author Djabu Balde was five years old, she was subjected to female genital mutilation (FGM), which she nearly didn’t survive. She was born in a small village in Guinea-Bissau, West Africa, and for most of her life she has carried this in silence, until now. In this episode of Her Side of the Stories, Djabu speaks publicly about her experience for the very first time. About her mother who tried to stop it from happening. About her father who didn’t show up to stop it. About the body she had to learn to live in again, the years of therapy, the fear of being touched, the slow, careful work of reclaiming her own sexuality. And the book she has written so that other girls do not have to live what she lived. This is a conversation about FGM — but it is also about a mother’s love that crossed an ocean. About migrating to a new country with nothing but a dream. About surviving an abusive home. About becoming a mother herself with an empty fridge and a one-year-old son. About forgiveness, about faith, and about a relentless amount of strength. Djabu is an actress, model, and now author. Her book is her offering to the millions of girls still subjected to this practice, one every twelve minutes, every day. This is Her Side of the Stories.   Her voice. Her truth. Her side.   FOLLOW DJABU BALDE Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/djabubalde_/ Book: https://www.amazon.es/Entre-dos-madres-Djabu-Balde-ebook/dp/B0H1QJS9LN   FOLLOW HER SIDE OF THE STORIES YouTube: https://youtube.com/@hersideofthestoriesofficial Spotify:https://open.spotify.com/show/0NdDte4w6fgcuZZwZH1rpi?si=5u1ARRWURf2ynKa0n3Fe8g Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/her-side-of-the-stories/id1890695561 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hersideofthestories Website: www.hersideofthestories.com [http://www.hersideofthestories.com/]   FOLLOW ASAL ZARA Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/asal_zara__ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/asal-zara-aa845766 #endfgm #fgmsurvivor #djabubalde #hersideofthestories #asalzara

Elisabetta Caraccia: Loving And Losing My Husband Ray Stevenson | Her Side of the Stories

In May 2023, Elisabetta walked into a hospital room in Ischia. Her husband, the actor Ray Stevenson, looked up at her, said one word, and was gone.The word was “Finalmente.” Finally. In this episode, she sits with me and tells me about that day. About telling their boys. About the mediums she called from the plane on the way to her son in England and the poem that arrived from ten different people, in ten different countries, in the days that followed.  She tells me about keeping him alive inside her family every single day. Not as a memory, but as a presence still beside her. And about the film festival she built from the worst loss of her life — the Ray of Light Awards. Her love letter to him, and to every story that uplifts the human spirit. At the end of our conversation, I asked her one question. If she could live this life all over again, knowing exactly how much it would cost her — would she still choose this love? She didn’t pause for a second, 100% she said. This touching but yet beautiful conversation is for anyone who has ever lost someone they didn’t think they could survive losing. Her name is Elisabetta Caraccia and this is Her Side of the Stories. ABOUT ELISABETTA Elisabetta Caraccia is a philanthropist, a mother of three, and the founder of the Ray of Light Awards — a film festival in Ibiza honouring storytelling rooted in human experience, connection and meaning. She is also the owner of Boutique Hostal Salinas in Ibiza, where she lives with her three sons. The Ray of Light Awards is her love letter to her late husband, the actor Ray Stevenson — and to every story that uplifts the human spirit.   Ray of Light Awards: https://rayoflightawards.com (26–31 May 2026 — Ibiza, Spain) Boutique Hostal Salinas: https://www.boutiquehostalsalinas.com [https://www.boutiquehostalsalinas.com/]   FOLLOW HER SIDE OF THE STORIES YouTube: https://youtube.com/@hersideofthestoriesofficial Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0NdDte4w6fgcuZZwZH1rpi?si=5u1ARRWURf2ynKa0n3Fe8g Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/her-side-of-the-stories/id1890695561 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hersideofthestories #raystevenson #grief #starwars #loss #hersideofthestories

The 3 Years I Almost Didn’t Survive | Alcoholism, Loss & Recovery | Hollywood Actress Hollie Stenson

You can be falling apart and still look fine. Hollywood actress Hollie Stenson tells the truth about high-functioning female alcoholism, the three years that almost killed her, and the recovery she had to fight for on her own terms. In this raw, unfiltered conversation with Asal Zara, Hollie opens up about her father's death, her divorce, sexual assault inside rehab, premature ovarian failure at 31, 60 hospital visits, and the compounded grief nobody around her could see. She talks about why AA didn't work for her, why alcohol is one of the most dangerous drugs to detox from, what she wishes the people around her had done — and the woman she became on the other side of all of it. If you have ever loved someone struggling with addiction, watched grief change you, been told to stay quiet about your pain, or simply needed to hear a woman tell the truth about her life — this episode is for you. This is Hollie's first ever conversation about her recovery from alcohol use disorder. Her Side of the Stories is a cinematic, emotionally honest conversation series with Asal Zara, exploring the inner lives of women through real experiences, feelings, and transformation. New episodes every Tuesday 3PM CET. Her Voice. Her Truth. Her Side. ──────────────────────── FOLLOW HER SIDE OF THE STORIES YouTube: https://youtube.com/@hersideofthestoriesofficial [https://youtube.com/@hersideofthestoriesofficial] Spotify:https://open.spotify.com/show/0NdDte4w6fgcuZZwZH1rpi?si=5u1ARRWURf2ynKa0n3Fe8g [https://open.spotify.com/show/0NdDte4w6fgcuZZwZH1rpi?si=5u1ARRWURf2ynKa0n3Fe8g]  Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/her-side-of-the-stories/id1890695561 [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/her-side-of-the-stories/id1890695561]  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hersideofthestories [https://www.instagram.com/hersideofthestories] Website: www.hersideofthestories.com [http://www.hersideofthestories.com/] FOLLOW ASAL ZARA Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/asal_zara [https://www.instagram.com/asal_zara]__ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/asal-zara-aa845766 [https://www.linkedin.com/in/asal-zara-aa845766] KEYWORDS: Hollie Stenson, Hollie Stenson interview, female alcoholism, high functioning alcoholic, hidden alcoholism, alcohol use disorder, women in recovery, sobriety story, premature ovarian failure, trauma recovery, why AA doesn't work, female recovery story, women's mental health, Hollywood actress sobriety, Her Side of the Stories, Asal Zara, podcast for women.

From Teenage Mum To Big Four Partner: Victoria Price | Her Side of the Stories

At seventeen and six months pregnant, someone from her own school said it out loud: "You've ruined your life, then, haven't you?" Victoria Price is one of a handful of people on the planet to ever reach Partner at one of the Big Four - and the founder of her own fashion brand, Emello. But behind the title is a woman who has been underestimated her whole life and used every word of it as fuel. In this episode of Her Side of the Stories, Victoria sits with Asal Zara and tells the truth about a childhood spent walking through her own front door not knowing what she'd be met with. About a mother who struggled with mental challenges for as long as Victoria can remember. About the day at four years old when her earliest memory was made and it wasn't a happy one. About becoming a carer to her younger siblings and a housewife to her own father, long before she should have been. About a mother who eventually left, disappeared for years, and never really came back.And then about everything that came after. Victoria speaks about the silent rule of her childhood — don't talk about it. About the relief no one is supposed to admit when a difficult parent leaves. About the day she told her dad she was pregnant, and the first words he said to her. About the antenatal class where the other mums turned up in Range Rovers and she walked. About the job she turned down because it would have solved a today problem. About the mentor who pointed at a door and changed how she leads, forever. About mum guilt for the first time in her life. About forgiving her mother and what that actually looks like. This is one of the most quietly powerful conversations we've had on Her Side. If you've ever been judged before anyone bothered to know your story, raised a child with no map, carried a mother's pain into your own womanhood, or built a life out of something that started in survival; this one is for you. — — — Her Side of the Stories is a cinematic, emotionally honest conversation series exploring the inner lives of women; what they've survived, what they've become, and what they've never said out loud until now. Hosted by Asal Zara. Filmed in Ibiza, Spain. Her Voice. Her Truth. Her Side. New episodes every Tuesday, 3PM CET. If this episode meant something to you, the kindest thing you can do is share it with the woman who needs it. And subscribing (it's free) is how we keep telling these stories. — — — FOLLOW VICTORIA PRICE & HER BRAND: EMELLO  [https://emello.com/?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=editorial&utm_campaign=her_side_of_the_story&utm_content=homepage] Emello: https://shorturl.at/33R7F [https://shorturl.at/33R7F] Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/victoria-price-75224936/ FOLLOW HER SIDE OF THE STORIES  YouTube: https://youtube.com/@hersideofthestoriesofficial  Spotify:https://open.spotify.com/show/0NdDte4w6fgcuZZwZH1rpi?si=5u1ARRWURf2ynKa0n3Fe8g Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/her-side-of-the-stories/id1890695561 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hersideofthestories Website: www.hersideofthestories.com FOLLOW ASAL ZARA  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/asal_zara__  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/asal-zara-aa845766 — — — #hersideofthestories #asalzara #victoriaprice #emello #teenagemum #teenagemom #womeninbusiness #womenleaders #singlemother #motherhoodjourney #womensstories #realstories #bigfour #breakingthecycle #generationaltrauma #postnataldepression #healingjourney

She Was 12. Her Daughter Was 11. The Same Nightmare. | Her Side of the Stories

Anna Janssen was twelve when something happened that shaped the way she would love, grieve, mother, and trust for the rest of her life. Decades later, she found her own daughter on the other side of the same nightmare — and became the only person who could meet her there. In this episode of Her Side of the Stories, she sits with Asal Zara and tells the truth about silence, the love she lost in a single phone call, and the woman she became on the other side of all of it: a healer, a mother, a power woman who is finally soft.   This isn't a story about what happened, it's a story about what stays.   What it does to the way you love. The way you grieve. The way you mother. The way you finally, after everything, learn what forgiveness actually means — and who it was always for.   Anna speaks about losing the man she loved in a single phone call. About anger. About the years she spent avoiding pain by avoiding everything. About the moment she became the only person her daughter could turn to — and what she said.   About finding herself again on the other side of all of it.   This is one of the most honest conversations we've had on Her Side.   If you've ever survived something you weren't ready for, kept something to yourself for too long, or wondered whether the past will ever stop sitting in your body — this is for you.   — — —   CHAPTERS 00:00 Welcome 02:01 Three years after the war 03:38 A happy childhood 06:45 At 12, something happened 09:28 The strength that came out of her 11:54 Telling her mother 12:45 "Don't tell your father" 15:02 What it did to intimacy — until today 15:22 Forgiveness is for yourself 15:40 The pattern survivors don't talk about 17:16 The smell that stayed 20:43 Anger and forgiveness 22:46 Seeing him again at 23 26:43 Blaming herself 28:13 The school years 30:27 The confusion no one names 33:18 The anger her son could see 37:27 Texas 38:50 Falling in love in America 39:38 The day he didn't come 42:14 The funeral she ran from 43:18 Italy 47:56 Meeting the father of her children 51:18 Her second great love 54:48 Living on a boat 57:24 The Sunday afternoon 59:41 Walking back onto the boat 61:50 What her daughter did 65:07 The silent retreat 66:33 A year of teaspoons 67:12 The letter 69:10 Becoming a power woman 70:34 Her trauma vs her daughter's 72:13 "The trauma stays. But you can change it." 73:12 Becoming a healer 78:45 How to actually forgive 80:20 Walk in the water and forgive 81:33 What she'd say to them now 82:25 Her advice 84:36 Becoming softer   — — —   Her Side of the Stories is a cinematic, emotionally honest conversation series exploring the inner lives of women — what they've survived, what they've become, and what they've never said out loud until now.   Hosted by Asal Zara. Filmed in Ibiza, Spain.   Her Voice. Her Truth. Her Side.   New episodes every Tuesday, 3PM CET.   If this episode meant something to you, the kindest thing you can do is share it with the woman who needs it. And subscribing (it's free) is how we keep telling these stories.   — — —   FOLLOW HER SIDE OF THE STORIES YouTube: https://youtube.com/@hersideofthestoriesofficial Spotify:https://open.spotify.com/show/0NdDte4w6fgcuZZwZH1rpi?si=5u1ARRWURf2ynKa0n3Fe8g Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/her-side-of-the-stories/id1890695561 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hersideofthestories Website: www.hersideofthestories.com   FOLLOW ASAL ZARA Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/asal_zara__ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/asal-zara-aa845766   — — —   #hersideofthestories #asalzara #annajanssen #childhoodtrauma #traumahealing #grief #forgiveness #motherdaughter #womensstories #realstories #survivorstory #generationaltrauma #healingjourney #losingapartner #emotionalhealing