September 29, 2026
The Empty Closet Theory: Why There's Never Room for What Matters | Episode 251: Susan McMurray
with Susan McMurray, Founder & Publisher, Kindred & Bloom Co.
31 min
The Empty Closet Theory: Why There's Never Room for What Matters | Episode 251: Susan McMurray
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In this episode
In this episode I sit down with Susan McMurray, who spent thirty years teaching communication at Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, pouring into students and her own family season after season. This past summer — her three months off from teaching — she finally made something that was just hers: Kindred & Bloom, a magazine-style devotional for women. It pairs beautiful contributor articles in the front with a five-week devotional in the back, and it's built to be an excuse to gather with a few friends and actually be present with each other.
I love that Susan took a magazine she loved (one that stopped publishing and left her a little heartbrokened) and went one step further with it. The first issue's theme, Abide, came right out of a class at her church, and the fifth week — Create and Connect — invites you to put the reading down and make something with your hands. Underneath it all is a truth she names plainly: she read that over half of Americans feel unseen, and she wanted to build a simple, doable path back to being seen and connected.
We also talk about the empty closet theory — if there's an empty closet in the house, we fill it with crud, and our schedules work the exact same way. The fix is margin, on purpose. Susan is honest about how scary it was to start something of her own, how she got up at one in the morning because she couldn't stop thinking about it, and the one line she keeps coming back to: do not despise small beginnings. Keep going, friend. Sometimes the whole thing starts with a single step.
Key takeaways
- When there's empty space in your schedule, it fills up with 'crud' the same way an empty closet does. Margin doesn't happen by accident — you have to protect it on purpose so there's room for what matters.
- Over half of Americans feel unseen. Being intentional can be small and doable: check in with a friend, walk a meal to an elderly neighbor, or invite a few women to gather.
- Do not despise small beginnings. God directs the steps of the righteous, not the leaps — so just take the next step and let the end result come.
- Find your 'drivers' — the things that energize you (for Susan: writing, beautifying, and connecting people). When a project hits all of them, you'll get up at 1am because you love it.
- Passion clues are already around you: what people say you do well, what feels easy to you, and what makes time disappear. Those are hints at your God-given gifts and talents.
- You can't do everything as an entrepreneur. Know what you do well and let others fill the gaps — that's freeing, not a failure.
- Make time to do something with your hands. If your work is mental, a simple, inexpensive creative project can be genuinely therapeutic and refreshing.
Chapters
- 0:00Coming up
- 0:36Sharing Passion and Purpose
- 0:53Welcome: meet Susan McMurray
- 1:45The magazine she loved that stopped publishing
- 2:56One step further: a five-week devotional in the back
- 3:51Create and Connect: doing something with your hands
- 5:20How the theme Abide came to be
- 7:32Family, hospitality, and community in every season
- 8:27Permission to slow down
- 9:31Is it surreal to have published a magazine?
- 9:47Finding your drivers: writing, beautifying, connecting
- 11:07Volume one: four issues, four seasons
- 12:46November 10 in Tulsa: a live podcast for two
- 14:48Where to find Kindred and Bloom
- 15:53A keepsake worth gifting
- 16:20Over half of Americans feel unseen
- 16:38The empty closet theory, and making margin
- 18:08A word from our sponsor
- 19:27Trusting an idea God puts in your heart
- 21:00Up at 1am, working on the magazine
- 22:54Rapid fire
- 23:31A theme song for this season
- 24:21Best advice: do not despise small beginnings
- 25:12One book every entrepreneur should read
- 26:38A dream not pursued yet: Kindred and Bloom retreats
- 28:09What following your passion means
- 28:56A question from the last guest: which season are you?
- 29:59Thank you, and the inner circle
- 30:43Until next time
- 31:10Sharing Passion and Purpose outro
“If we have an empty closet in our house, we just tend to fill it. It just gets filled with crud... and I think it's the same with our own schedules. I think the Lord would want us to have margin.”
“Don't despise the small beginnings. There's something beautiful in just getting started.”
“I think God is such a good steward of the gifts He puts in you. He wants us to walk in those.”
“I just pray every day, Lord, get it to your ladies who need it.”
Resources mentioned
About Susan
Founder & Publisher, Kindred & Bloom Co.
Susan McMurray is the founder and publisher of Kindred & Bloom Co., a seasonal magazine-style devotional for women whose first issue, Abide, pairs contributor articles with a five-week devotional made for gathering with a few friends. She has taught communication at Oral Roberts University in Tulsa for 30 years and built the magazine over one summer off from teaching.
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