Zarif grew up in Harrow, London with her Scottish father and her Jewish-Iranian mother. As a child, Zarif loved listening to music and some of her favourite artists are Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Prince, and Aretha Franklin. She wrote her first song as an entry to a Blue Peter Competition and formed a girl band with her friends called Girls of Tomorrow. Zarif was educated at North London Collegiate and then went on to University College London where she graduated with a Human Sciences[3] degree. In her teens, she was involved with the Jewish youth movement BBYO, where she was elected onto the national executive.