Meg Nygren, MSML, CAI-II, CTP-I
Vice President of Strategic Initiatives
Meg Nygren joins the team as the Vice President of Strategic Initiatives for Red Oak Recovery® programs. Her vast experience includes working in the marketing and business development arena, strategic planning, leadership development, and working with families, clients, and referral sources during the enrollment process and throughout their treatment stay. She also has experience with regards to operations, regulation, and compliance in a prior role with Red Oak Recovery.
Meg delivers a high standard of excellence and offers a collaborative team spirit with those she works with. She enjoys working with families and professionals to help deliver solutions for customized treatment and long-lasting, sustainable recovery for those struggling with substance use, trauma, and mental health issues. Meg is a Certified ARISE Interventionist, Level II and a Certified Trauma Professional, Level I.
On her downtime, you can find Meg exploring the many things to do in beautiful Western North Carolina with her husband. Eric and miniature pinscher, Romeo.
Maggie Cain, LCMHCA
Enrollment Director of Red Oak Recovery® Programs
Maggie’s first home was in the great state of Texas. Collegiate tennis and a full scholarship sent her to Arkansas. There she found her first career and love for helping people. Her first job landed her in the nonprofit fundraising sector. For thirteen years she was blessed with getting to raise awareness and much-needed funds for children and families seeking support, hope, and love through programs for psychiatric, emotional, and behavioral care in Arkansas. After earning her Masters in Mental Health and Clinical Counseling in 2016 from Southern Arkansas University, she became a Licensed Associate Counselor in Arkansas and recently (2018) transferred her license to North Carolina as a Licensed Professional Counselor Associate.
Additionally, for fourteen months beginning in December 2016, Maggie provided part-time counseling for Bradford Health Services IOP of Little Rock. Working with the clients and their families at Bradford Health Services was equally fulfilling and joyful as connecting donors to changing lives of others through their financial gifts. That experience, and her love of helping people, led her to a desire to stay in addiction treatment. Maggie found herself seeking through the clients’ strengths and desires for help to be a part of a team that feels the same passion for helping and ensures every client an opportunity to succeed.
Maggie’s biggest strength is that she finds daily happiness in helping others and connecting others to that feeling of joy. She is a Clinical Outreach Specialist for Red Oak Recovery and The Willows. Her passion for helping the whole family heal will live on through her work at Red Oak Recovery by sharing about ROR and The Willows to clinicians, treatment programs and families.
Maggie could not be happier to now live in Arden, with her husband and to explore this beautiful state by foot and kayak.
Ashley Egeland, CPSS
Senior Enrollment Counselor & Alumni Program Manager
Ashley joined the Red Oak Recovery® team in the summer of 2017. She is a mass shooting survivor and a survivor of addiction. After many years of running from her trauma and her addiction, she made the decision to enter our women’s program. Since graduating from our program and coming back to work, she has had the opportunity to take on several different roles with our marketing team, our direct care staff, and our alumni program. She joins our enrollment team as the Enrollment Coordinator and just recently accepted the role as the Alumni Program Manager. She is a Certified Peer Support Specialist and continues to chip away in school to obtain a degree in Psychology. In her free time, she loves to enjoy the outdoors, write, paint, dance, and spend as much time with her family who are back in Colorado and down in Durham.
Wesley Culpepper
Enrollment Counselor
Wesley Culpepper grew up in Columbus, GA where he enjoyed playing sports and spending time outdoors. In high school, he began to struggle with addiction and was sent to boarding school, where his substance use only escalated. After multiple attempts in college and bouncing around between treatment centers, he finally gained the willingness to accept help from others. In June 2017, Wesley moved to Asheville and began his journey to obtain long term sobriety. Now, he is active in the recovery community and is living a fulfilling life helping others achieve sobriety.
Wesley has worked in several different roles within the treatment industry including direct care, case management, family communication, operations, and now enrollment. This experience helped him to develop a desire for working closely with families of loved ones in treatment, which led him to join the enrollment team at Red Oak Recovery®. Wesley is passionate about helping young people who are struggling and showing them that they can accomplish anything if they are willing to ask for help and accept it.
Wesley spends his free time enjoying all that Asheville has to offer. You can often find him running long distances, hiking, and camping with his wife Nancy and their two dogs, Taj and Cooper. He also enjoys mountain biking in Bent Creek and paddle boarding along the French Broad.
Sam Hayes, CPSS
Enrollment Counselor
Sam grew up in Orange County, North Carolina where he loved being outside, playing sports, and spending time with family. He began to struggle with addiction in high school and it continued to escalate into his 20’s. After many attempts at treatment Sam found himself at a wilderness program in Asheville in 2018 where he learned coping skills and forged a connection with nature. Since finding recovery, Sam has found education to be therapeutic and vital to his well-being. He graduated from Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College in 2021 with an Associate Degree and is now enrolled in Western Carolina’s Business Administration and Law program. Sam began working in the treatment industry as direct care staff and as a case manager. He has also been working towards attaining his CADC and is a Certified Peer Support Specialist. While working in recovery, Sam has found that working with families of those suffering from substance use disorder provides him with sense of purpose and fulfillment.
Sam enjoys spending his free time hanging out with friends, tending to his garden, exercising, and running around the yard with his dog Cricket.
Doug Carter, CADC, WFR
Enrollment Counselor
Doug moved to Asheville from Maryland’s Eastern shore to pursue a career in wilderness and adventure therapy. His background encompasses restaurant management, agriculture, equine therapy, environmental literacy, and outdoor education. Before his work in enrollment, he served as a Recovery Guide and then Program Manager for Red Oak Recovery®. Doug is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Washington College with degrees in English and Art History; upon graduating, he was a finalist for the Sophie Kerr Prize, the nation’s largest literary award for undergraduate creative writing.
One of Doug’s passions is teaching others how to cultivate the resources necessary to evolve as individual members of a team. Discovering value in varying perspectives, as well as fostering effective communication skills, propels his mission to enhance client and employee culture in the Red Oak community. His continuing education as a Certified Alcohol and Drug Counselor has led him to incorporate self-inquiry, mindfulness-based stress reduction, and spiritual awareness in his professional and personal life.
At home, Doug finds himself fermenting food, tending to plants, reading, writing, and exploring the natural world. His belief in the connection of mental and physical health has inspired him to unify a practice of running, yoga, meditation, and high-intensity interval training. If not immersed in a hobby, Doug spends his time sitting by a fire under the stars with his partner.
MARKETING TEAM
Carol Rose, MHDL
Collegiate and Clinical Outreach
Carol earned her Master’s in Counseling from UNC Charlotte. Her degree has taught her the importance of being a good listener and building a trusting relationship whether she is working with the individual asking for help, a family member, or a mental health professional. Carol believes that during a time of crisis, trust is paramount to find a good place to heal.
Carol was the founding coordinator for The Collegiate Recovery Program at UNC Charlotte, a program offering support to students in early recovery, it was there that she developed her own trusting relationships with her community in order to grow the program. Carol also brings personal experience with addiction within her own family, which she shares to offer hope to families in need. Her personal experience allows her to empathize and explain the journey a family will take not only while at Red Oak, but beyond. Helping families find continued support within their community is a big part of Carol’s job as a Collegiate and Clinical Outreach Specialist.
In her spare time, Carol enjoys watching old movies, spending time with her husband of nearly 40 years, Marty and being proud of her two grown daughters and seeing them thrive.
Karen Hunt
National Outreach Specialist
Karen brings over 17 years of addiction/mental health experience to her work at Red Oak Recovery®. She is known for her ability to build strong core relationships and exceptional previous experience as a business owner and entrepreneur. Karen has a Graduate Marketing Certificate from SMU Cox School of Business in Dallas, Texas and International Coaching Federation credentials from the Gardner Institute in Southlake, Texas. She is also an accredited Fitness Trainer from the International Sports Sciences Association & Cooper Clinic in Dallas, Texas.
Karen has served on the boards of NAATP Committee, APRA, The Elisa Project, and is a member of the American Marketing Association, the Dallas Medical Society Circle of Friends, the Dallas Chamber of Commerce, the Nexus Auxiliary, TAAP, NAADAC, and the Eating Disorder Hope Club.
She loves her French Bulldog named Diesel and enjoys travelling, golfing, and spinning. Karen appreciates the ability to continue her education and be a life-long learner.
Theresa Darty-King, MS
National Outreach Specialist
Theresa brings more than 17 years of extensive experience in the mental health and substance use industry. Holding a Master’s Degree in Rehabilitation Counseling from Jackson State University, as well as an undergraduate degree in Social Work, has taught Theresa to evaluate the whole person and not just what appears to be taking place on the surface. This skill contributes to her ability to assist, not only a potential client, but also their family and any professionals connected to a client’s care.
Theresa worked for The Mississippi Department of Rehabilitation Services for 14 years before beginning her work in the mental health and substance use arena. She spent 14 of the last 17 years in the industry at a nationally recognized psychiatric and addiction treatment program, where she worked on the admissions’ team, as a business development coordinator, and supervised a national call center. Theresa’s most recent role prior to joining the Red Oak Recovery® team was in a business development capacity for treatment programs that included a behavioral-health hospital and inpatient holistic health center.
Theresa currently lives in Hattiesburg with her family. She is a wife and a proud mother of three sons, a Goddaughter and Godson. When not working Theresa enjoys working in her yard and doing community work with her Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority Sisters.
Theresa continues to be an advocate for people who suffer from all types of addiction and mental health.
