The Tamsen Show
The Closet Clean Out Guide: Declutter Your Life and Get Your Confidence Back
22 Jun 2026
Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
Chapter 1: What personal transformation did Tamsen experience through her closet clean out?
Hi there, friends. I am so glad you're here. So I have been wanting to talk to you about this one for a while, and so many of you have been asking me about it. So today is the day. I'm super excited. If you follow me anywhere on social, you have probably been watching me share little bits and pieces of my closet journey. And I cannot say how many of you have reached out about all of it.
I've gotten DMs, I've gotten emails, texts from friends I haven't heard from in years asking me about it. Every single one of you wanting to know more. So this episode is for you. And real quick, if you're new to The Tamsen Show, first of all, welcome. I'm so glad you're here. This is the place we figure out how to build your next chapter together.
The confident, clear-eyed version of your life that you actually want to be living and that you're enjoying. When I started this podcast, I had no idea what I was doing. I just knew I had something to say and women who wanted to hear it. The doubt was real. But what if nobody listens? What if nobody goes anywhere? What if I can't figure out the business side of it?
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It also helps boost conversions, meaning less carts going abandoned and more sales for you. It's time to turn those what ifs into with Shopify today. Sign up for your $1 per month trial at shopify.com slash Tamsen. Go to shopify.com slash Tamsen. That's shopify.com slash Tamsen. I'm so happy you're with us.
If this episode helps you in any way at all, please, if you could take a moment to leave a review when you get a minute. It really helps other women find this show, and I appreciate it so much. Let's go ahead and get into it. So a couple of weeks ago, I thought I was just cleaning out my closet. And you guys know me, I love to declutter. On the surface, that is what it was.
But it has spiraled into being one of the most transformative practices I've done in a really long time. I think the reason it resonated with so many of you is because deep down you already knew. You knew this was about more than just clothes in a big way. And I want to make you a promise right at the top of this episode. You can do this too.
You can walk into your own closet and take back a piece of your life you didn't even realize you had given up. Because the truth is, you cannot build your next chapter while old crap is still hanging in front of you every morning, looming over you, taking up space where the new woman is trying to live. And that woman is in there. And we're going to try to make room for her today.
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Chapter 2: How can you make quick decisions about what to keep or discard from your closet?
And then we also had a pile for tailoring. So I didn't put things back in the closet that had a rip or a missing button or a broken zipper or whatever. So having those categories made it so much easier because it took the open-ended pressure off.
it wasn't just yes or no it was where does this belong now if i threw something out it was for the stuff that was stained or worn out because nobody wants that if i sold it it was for a higher end piece that i had spent real money on and i was like scared to get rid of for all these years and actually worked with a consignment service for those and then the rest got donated within the first hour i realized i was not editing a closet
I was editing myself. I was editing a person. Each piece I held up was like this small question of who I am now. And most of the time the answer was, that's not me anymore. When did I pick that out? And who was that? And I'm allowed to let her go. It took close to a full day, almost eight hours, including some breaks.
Because even before we started, my stylist told me to make sure I ate and drank and stay hydrated. She actually said that the day before and I laughed. I was like, oh my gosh, I don't need to get hydrated to go through my closet. And by the end of the day, I was exhausted. I've tried a lot of skincare over the years, and what keeps me coming back to OneSkin is that the science is real.
Their founding team, they're longevity researchers who built everything around OS1, a peptide that targets senescent cells, which they call zombie cells, which drives so much of what we see when we look in the mirror. Since I started using it, my skin looks more even, feels stronger, and I notice a difference.
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Born from over a decade of longevity research, One Skin's OS1 peptide is proven to target the visible signs of aging, helping you unlock your healthiest skin now and as you age. For a limited time, try One Skin with 15% off using code Tamsen at oneskin.co slash Tamsen. That's 15% off, oneskin.co with code Tamsen. After you purchase, they'll ask where you heard about them.
Please support the Tamsen Show and tell them we sent you. I sort of just rolled my eyes because I thought this was going to be done in a couple of hours and I was going to fly through it and have the rest of my day for free.
Eight hours later, I had two Joe and the Juice sandwiches, chugged water all day long, had coffee breaks, snack breaks, because honestly, it is freaking exhausting, but not physically so much as mentally. By the end of that, I had a pile that filled half of the hallway and I was wrecked.
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Chapter 3: Who should you involve in your closet decluttering process?
Not in a bad way, like the way that you're wrecked after a good cry and you just feel like, I'm a little bit raw right now. There are gonna be moments where you don't wanna do it anymore. When you put on a pair of jeans, doesn't fit, that you're like trying to squeeze them over your stomach and you're like, I'm not doing this to myself. And I thought, why am I putting myself through this?
I know these don't fit, but that's exactly why you need that person in the room with you because they're not going to let you quit. Mine wouldn't. Almost every time I did, and there were several times that I wanted to, I'd come across another piece that really surprised me.
A shirt I thought that I'd toss that turned out to be the most important thing to me or a blazer that I thought was a keeper that I couldn't get off my body fast enough. And the surprises kept going and they taught me that I didn't actually even know my closet anymore. I walked in and out and like looked at the rack all as like one piece that I just ignored completely.
I'd been operating off this muscle memory and assumption and almost everything I had assumed was not right. So this part I want to spend the most time on because this is where it stopped being about clothes. And I'll probably get, I could get a little emotional talking about some of it. It's crazy that clothes are emotional.
But some of these things brought up memories that I forgot about and I didn't know I was carrying. There were three sections in my closet that broke me, and I want to walk you through each one of them because I think everybody listening has their own version of this. I'll start with this section first, the news dresses. That's my career section, basically.
I was a news anchor for almost 30 years. So I had collected a lot of clothes from that time in my life. I was given clothes, I bought clothes. I had to be on camera every single day. So that whole section was like an Easter egg basket of clothes. It was every color you can imagine. Dresses I'd worn at the news desk year after year, long sleeve, short sleeve, long, short, tight, not tight.
I left that career almost three years ago now, which is like mind boggling. and I had not touched a single one of those dresses. Every time I would pull one out thinking I was going to wear it, I'm like, no, I'm not going to wear this. But I couldn't throw them out either because I remembered everything. I remembered stories I had done with some of these dresses. It was crazy.
And it was honestly hard for me to let go of the fact that I'm not a news anchor anymore. And I made the decision myself. But it had been my identity for such a long time, Tamsen the news anchor. And I think a lot of us have that in our careers. Like we identify with that chair that we're sitting in, whatever that is. the corner office chair, whatever the job is, we kind of really identify with.
So I was thinking, if I got rid of these dresses, it felt like I was getting rid of a huge part of myself. And when the stylist asked about them, she's like, what is this section? I like never have seen you wear any of these. I tried to make this practical argument that maybe I would need them someday. And she just looked at me and I'm like, I know, I know that I'm not keeping all of these.
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Chapter 4: How do emotional attachments affect your clothing choices?
And asking myself, do I need this? Do I want it? Am I using this? Is this for who I am today or who I used to be? And I'm not telling you to clean out your kitchen. I'm telling you that once you start that question in one place, you cannot unask it anywhere else. So consider that a fair warning, by the way, because...
That whole weekend after she left, that was like a Wednesday, Thursday we did that. Saturday and Sunday, I cleaned, like went from my makeup drawer to my purse, like everything. I would have cleaned out Iris' closet if he had let me. He won't want me anywhere near it. Here's what I want you to take from this. Here's where I land. If you have been avoiding your own closet, you're not alone.
And I want you to know why. It's not because you're lazy or disorganized. It's because some part of you knows what's in there and it's going to take a lot to open it up and get this done. You're not avoiding the clothes, but you might be avoiding a conversation with yourself that the clothes are going to start. And the conversation goes something like this. Who am I now?
And where did the woman who picked out all of this stuff go? You don't have to hire a stylist. You don't need a system. You just need a trusted person in that room or over FaceTime with you who is not emotionally attached to that stuff. And you need to give yourself 10 seconds per piece once it's on. What's on the other side of opening that closet like this is not loss.
I know it feels like it, but it is not. What's on the other side is a woman who's here right now. It's a lot of clarity. It's a lot of decluttering. It's a lot of, I don't know, it's just, it's really given me a lot of lift and a lot of ease. She has things to wear, places to go, a life she wants to live, and she just needs you to make room.
So consider this your permission slip to go and find her, please. And let me know how it goes. I really do hope this episode gives you something to sit with and think about. If any of this hit, let me know. Send me a message. You can text, you can call, whatever you want. And maybe tell me what you found in your own closet that was really meaningful. I'd love to hear from you.
You can email me at podcast at tamsinfidel.com or leave a voicemail or text. The number is 917-382-4277. That's 917-382-4277. We'd love to hear from you here. And if you have a second, if you could please leave me a review because it really, really makes a difference. We read all of them. And I really do love to hear what you think.
There is a whole team of women behind the scenes here building out these episodes. And your review is what helps them keep showing up each and every week and giving you what you want. I can't wait to hear what you think of this one. Make sure you subscribe so you don't miss any of the upcoming episodes. We have so much more coming up for you. I can't wait.
I am here to make sure your next chapter is your most confident one yet. I love you guys.
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