Saved Seats | Devon McDonald on the Secrets Successful Women Keep: Burnout, Mom Shame, & Rebuilding with Intention
The Breadwinners PodcastShow Notes
**This is a replay from a previous episode**
What does it feel like to reach the pinnacle of your career — and realize it no longer fits?
Devon McDonald spent 17 years in venture capital, rising to General Partner at OpenView Ventures while raising three kids and serving as the financial anchor for her family. In March 2020, OpenView had its largest exit ever when Datadog went public, returning the fund ten times over. On paper, it was the moment she'd worked her entire career for. On the inside? Devon was sitting alone in her car, listening to meditation audiobooks, wondering why she felt desperate to escape.
In this raw, honest conversation, Devon and Alexis explore what happens when the life you built for everyone else stops fitting who you're becoming — and what it actually takes to rebuild.
Devon opens up about the warning signs she ignored for years: the physical symptoms of chronic stress, the shame spiral of working-mom guilt, the perfectionism and control that masked how much she was struggling. She shares the terrifying work of dismantling a life that looked perfect from the outside — losing 30 pounds, hiring a psychologist and spiritual coach, learning nervous system regulation, setting boundaries at work, transitioning out of her GP role, and ultimately leaving her marriage.
Today, Devon is the co-founder of Second Harvest, a retreat for high-achieving leaders at midlife who are ready for something more aligned to their inner truth.
This episode is for every breadwinner mother who has ever sat in her car just to breathe.
What we cover:
- The moment Devon realized her biggest career win felt completely hollow - How the body signals misalignment long before the mind catches up - Mom shame, working-mother guilt, and why high-achieving women don't talk about it - The role of nervous system regulation, somatic awareness, and spiritual coaching in Devon's transformation - Why divorce made her a better, more present mother - What "high achieving" actually means — and who Second Harvest is really for - How to build community rooted in giving, not performing
Connect with Devon McDonald: 🌿 secondharvest.co 💼 LinkedIn: Devon McDonald 📸 Instagram: @second_harvest_retreats
__________________________
Connect with The Breadwinners: 📩 Substack: wearethebreadwinners.substack.com Instagram: wearethebreadwinners
__________________________
🎙️ Rate + Subscribe wherever you listen — it helps us reach the women who need to know they're not alone.
__________________________
#WomenInBusiness #HighAchievingWomen #career #BurnoutRecovery #WorkingMom #mom #MidlifeWomen #CareerTransition #WomenLeaders Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
More from The Breadwinners Podcast
*This is a replayed episode from an earlier conversation*
Leaking when you sneeze, jump rope or lunge for a ball on the tennis court is common. Dr. Sara Reardon wants every woman to stop accepting it as the price of having children - because it's not normal.
Everyone is calling everything a community right now. Marika Frumes has spent six years building the real thing, and she knows the difference.
In this episode, Alexis Contos sits down with Patrice Meagher, a 20-year Commercial Real Estate veteran turned Founder and CEO of MilkMate. After spending two decades leasing millions of square feet in Manhattan , Patrice realized that while we can fly to space, the most "innovative" solution for pumping at work was still a storage closet or a bathroom stall.
Most of us are told to chase the title, the house, the marriage that looks good from the outside. Keren Eldad had all of it, and it nearly broke her.