Episode 21 - Devon

This week on Sober Champs, Pete and Aiden sit down with Devon, who’s nearly six months sober and proof that hitting rock bottom doesn’t always look the way you think it will.

Devon’s story starts in Edmonds, Washington, where she grew up in a Christian household, stayed active in sports, and was a standout student who went on to graduate from the University of Washington. On paper, everything looked perfect. Behind the scenes, she was blacking out nightly, hiding bottles under bathroom cabinets, and convincing everyone, including herself, that she had it under control.

This episode digs into the tricky nature of high-functioning alcoholism. Devon opens up about juggling two jobs, including a remote consulting position she handled while drinking on Zoom calls, and working her way up the wine world in New York City. As a sommelier in the fine dining scene, she was surrounded by alcohol, praised for her performance, and privately unraveling.

Devon shares how she tried everything to manage her drinking — limiting it to weekends, switching to wine only, keeping a calendar with fake sobriety milestones. But the reality was darker. She describes the moment she saw a text on her sister’s phone that read “I think I need to get Devon into rehab,” and how that broke through years of denial. She booked treatment the same day and boarded a plane to California.

Now in early recovery, Devon talks honestly about what the past six months have looked like. From facing difficult emotions without alcohol, to learning how to show up for family and friends with integrity, to rediscovering her passions and rebuilding her life one step at a time, her story reminds us that recovery is about progress, not perfection.

This episode is for anyone who’s ever questioned whether their drinking was “bad enough,” anyone navigating early sobriety, or anyone who just needs to hear that healing is possible, even when you’ve been lying to yourself for years.