The Paperwork Finally Caught Up: Holly Bonnalie & Leisha Evangelho on Friendship, Showing Up, &Taking Ownership

Written By Wendy Rimmelspacher

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Some leaps take seventeen years to feel sudden.

Welcome!

What if the opportunity that changes your life isn't something you chase—but something you've been quietly preparing for all along?

When Holly Bonnalie walked into Basalt Cellars in 2008, she didn't even drink wine. A year later, Leisha Evangelho arrived from Southern California, expecting to stay in the Lewis-Clark Valley for just six months. 

Neither woman could have imagined where those decisions would eventually lead.

Seventeen years later, Holly and Leisha are close friends, business partners—and the new owners of Basalt Cellars in Clarkston, Washington.

But this isn't really a story about buying a winery.

It's a story about the years before the paperwork was signed: learning the business, building relationships, raising families, trusting each other, saying yes to opportunities, and becoming ready for something they couldn't yet see.

In this conversation, Holly and Leisha share the story behind their friendship and their journey from employees to owners — including the encouragement they received from Basalt's founders, the fears that came with considering ownership, and why taking over the winery ultimately felt less like a giant leap and more like the next stepping stone.

It's also a beautiful reminder that the people we build our lives alongside matter. The right relationships don't just support us. They can strengthen us, stretch us, and sometimes help us see what's possible before we can see it ourselves.

In This Episode, You'll Discover:

In this episode, Holly and Leisha share: 

  • How Holly landed a job running a winery even though she didn't drink wine

  • Why Leisha expected her move from Southern California to last only six months

  • How working side by side for nearly two decades created the trust to eventually become business partners

  • The early conversations about someday owning Basalt Cellars — and why their first reaction wasn't necessarily "yes"

  • How encouragement from Basalt's founders — and an outside expert — helped them recognize they were ready

  • What changed, and what surprisingly didn't, when they went from employees to owners

  • How they've built a work life that gives both women the flexibility to be present for their children

  • The strengths they've learned from one another over the years

  • Why kindness, hospitality, and easing other people's burdens are central to the kind of business they want Basalt Cellars to continue to be

  • What they would tell the women they were back in 2008 and 2009, if they could see where all those small decisions would eventually lead

✨ If you've ever wondered whether the small steps you're taking are leading somewhere, Holly and Leisha's story is a reminder that you may already be preparing for an opportunity you can't see yet—especially with the right people beside you.

Timestamps:

[00:00] —Teaser Clip

[01:18] — Welcome to Dim to Daring

[01:33] — Why this story is about more than buying a winery

[03:16] — Meet Holly and Leisha

[05:16] — Holly's unexpected path to Basalt Cellars

[08:26]— Leisha arrives from Southern California—and meets Holly

[10:42] — Holly remembers meeting Leisha

[12:47] — How years of working together built extraordinary trust

[14:54] — Did they ever dream about owning Basalt?

[17:45] — When ownership became a real possibility

[18:45] — Did they worry business ownership could change their friendship

[20:50] — Did ownership feel like a leap—or the next stepping stone?

[22:53] — The outside perspective that helped them finally say yes

[24:30] — Motherhood, business, and the gift of flexibility

[28:45] — What Holly and Leisha have learned from each other

[31:18] — What they would tell their younger selves now

[33:13] — What do they believe they're capable of now?

[33:40] — The relationships they want to preserve as owners

[34:04] — Kindness, community, and "easing someone's burden"

[36:56] — Wendy's closing reflection: What might you already be building?

Key Takeaways:

The right people can expand what you believe is possible.

Years of working side by side gave Holly and Leisha a foundation of trust. Their story reminds us that the right people can steady us, strengthen us, and help us see possibilities we might not see alone.

Sometimes we need someone else to see our readiness.

Even with years of experience — and encouragement from founders Rick and Lynn — ownership still felt daunting. Sometimes confidence comes from allowing people we trust to reflect back what we've already earned, learned, and become.

Kindness can be part of the business model. 

For Holly and Leisha, Basalt is about more than selling wine. It's about noticing people, making them feel welcome, and sometimes simply helping ease someone's burden. That's a meaningful legacy to carry into their next chapter.

Worth Saving:

Some moments are too good not to save:

On finding the kind of friendship you can't manufacture: “You can't buy that at Walmart.” — Wendy

On the worries that can get louder than the dream: “Sometimes those worries speak louder than you want them to.” — Holly

On finally realizing ownership was right: “It just felt right. And that sounds so cliché, but it really just felt right.” — Leisha

On having someone who will drop everything when you need her: “Holly said, ‘Go, just take him. This is urgent, and I'll hold the fort down.’” — Leisha

And on what Holly would tell those two women back in 2008: “Just wait to see how this unfolds. You're not even going to believe it.” — Holly

On what’s next for the chapter they're beginning together: “We did it… So onwards we go.” — Holly

Episode Summary:

Holly Bonnalie and Leisha Evangelho didn't set out to become winery owners. 

They simply kept showing up.

They learned. They worked. They built relationships. They raised their children. They became close friends. They built the trust of Basalt Cellars' founders and customers. And little by little, they became ready for an opportunity they couldn't have imagined when they first walked through the winery doors. 

Their story reminds us that daring doesn't always arrive as one dramatic decision. 

Sometimes daring is quiet.

It's taking the unexpected job. It's staying curious. It's letting someone else's confidence in you strengthen your own. It's building relationships with people who make you stronger. And it's taking enough small steps that one day you look around and realize you're standing somewhere you once couldn't have imagined.

So here's the question I want to leave you with:

What might you already be building — quietly and steadily — that is preparing you for something you can't see yet?

And just as importantly: who are you building alongside? Are you making each other stronger? Are you helping each other see what's possible?

Because sometimes the paperwork isn't the beginning of the story. Sometimes it's simply the moment that finally catches up to everything you've been building all along.

Links & Resources:

Basalt Cellars:

Learn more about Basalt Cellars, plan a visit to the tasting room in Clarkston, Washington, and follow along as Holly and Leisha begin this next chapter as owners. 

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Remember:

You are not behind.

The small steps you're taking may be building something bigger than you can see right now.

Keep learning. Keep showing up. Keep saying yes to the opportunities that stretch you.

And pay attention to who you're building alongside.

The right people will believe in you, strengthen you, make room for you — and sometimes help you see that you're ready before you can see it yourself.

You don't have to know where every step is leading.

Just keep taking the next one. Those pebbles may be the stepping stones to a life you never imagined. 👠

Wendy Rimmelspacher
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