Admissions and Marketing Team

Meg Nygren, MSML, CAI-II, CTP-I

Vice President of Marketing

Meg Nygren joins the team as the Vice President of Marketing 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 admissions 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

Admissions Director

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.

Shane Applegate

Senior Admissions Counselor

“When you come to a fork in the road, take it” – Yogi Berra. While this may or may not be an authentic Yogiism, Shane has authentically been committed to working in experiential and therapeutic programs since the late 80’s. With several years of experience in multiple roles at camps and boarding schools, Shane has now worked in the young adult substance abuse field for fourteen years.

Experience in the substance abuse field for Shane has led to several key roles and trainings, which aids him greatly in understanding the support and needs for families and their loved ones seeking help. From the impact of an intervention process on a family, to setting realistic expectations for the treatment process, Shane always strives to provide compassionate service to each situation.

Shane’s knowledge of professional resources nationwide helps him greatly in connecting families with qualified resources as they navigate the move towards recovery solutions. Shane has tremendous passion for helping young adults find the new directions they are needing at a critical time in their life, doing so with great respect for all the struggles they are facing.

A native of Kansas, Shane is a graduate of Kansas State University in Public Relations. Shane and his wife have now lived in Asheville for more than 20 years, raising two boys and family fully integrated into the joys of living in Western North Carolina.

Justin Shaff

Admissions Counselor

Justin grew up in Southwest Michigan. He spent much of his childhood running around the woods, building forts, playing in the dirt and snow, and just learning how to be comfortable in the great outdoors. Justin has been working with adolescents and their families in various capacities for the majority of the last 15 years; with experience in non-profits, community engagement/outreach, youth ministry, and behavioral health. Justin has a passion to see positive change and hope in the lives of young people and their families. As a member of the Admissions team, Justin brings all his experience and passion for helping young people and their families into his everyday tasks.

Justin still loves the outdoors, whether it is hiking, mountain biking, camping, or the endless work to be done in his yard. Justin loves to spend time with his wife, who shares his passion for outdoor activities. They love to take advantage of the beautiful lakes and rivers of the Carolinas throughout the summer and include their three wonderful dogs in as many of their activities as possible. Fall is for Football, and Justin has remained a lifelong fan of the Michigan Wolverines and Detroit Lions.

Erin Marcus, LCSW, LCAS

Senior Clinical Outreach and Admissions

Erin Marcus, LCSW, LCAS joins the Red Oak Recovery® team as a Senior Clinical Outreach and Admissions team member. Erin brings more than 30 years of working in the therapeutic industry and working with individuals and families who are struggling to overcome behavior, relationship, mental health, and addiction issues. She has a strong clinical background in the development of systems and programs that integrate whole person and family healing. Erin strongly believes that it is essential for healing to take place on a systemic level in order to create sustainable change for individuals and family systems.

In her most recent role, she led the admissions team of a provider of therapeutic outdoor behavioral health for struggling or underachieving adolescents and young adults. She also worked directly with professionals to assist families in a time of crisis. Prior to that, Erin was the Clinical Director of a leading treatment program for young adults with addiction and dual diagnosis issues. Her passion and breadth of experience make her a wonderful fit for the Red Oak Recovery® 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.

Tom Williams

Community Outreach Specialist

Tom has called North Carolina home ever since he moved from Fairfax Virginia, when he was four years old. He was raised in Chapel Hill, where oddly enough, he grew to love watching Duke basketball. After spending what seemed to be enough time in the “Triangle”, Tom took to the mountains of western North Carolina and studied Communication and Media studies at Appalachian State University. After falling in love with the healing power and tranquility of the Blue Ridge Mountains, he moved to Asheville and worked as a Systems Analyst. Several years of fixing printers, changing passwords and asking folks “have you turned it off and on yet?” past before Tom realized the work wasn’t for him. He then found his true path while working at Four Circles Recovery Center, a wilderness therapy program. There Tom found himself in many different roles and ultimately as the Director of Admissions and Utilization Review. Through personal and anecdotal experience, Tom’s passion for people has compelled him to help others on their personal journey through recovery. He feels that everyone should work to understand themselves and discover where their individual happiness lies. Outside of work you can find Tom reading a book in Carrier Park, hiking with friends, playing basketball at the local YMCA or soaking up a documentary on Netflix at home with his two cats.

Sharon Findlay, MS

Administrative and Marketing Coordinator

Raised across the country and abroad, Sharon grew up in a military family. She has worked in mental health, education, and management fields for over 15 years and brings a great deal of personal and professional experience to Red Oak Recovery®. After Sharon began her therapeutic program experience with a therapeutic boarding school, she earned her Master of Science in Organization Development, with a focus on resilience in individuals and groups. This emphasis, combined with the systemic and consultative approach her studies offered, inspired Sharon to return to the field with a new goal: helping clients reach their full potential while simultaneously addressing the health of the organization, its staff, and program as whole. Sharon had the opportunity to further hone these skills in multiple residential settings. Sharon has witnessed first-hand the powerful and life changing outcomes that occur at the Red Oak programs as result of her tenure in secondary programs. She is excited to now be a part of the first stage of the change process for so many young people.

Sharon is extremely dedicated to helping our clients and their families heal. She appreciates the holistic and intentional approach that Red Oak Recovery® utilizes. She is also very committed to social justice issues and serves on the Gender Education and Demystification Symposium (GEMS) board of directors, which is a not-for-profit that oversees an annual conference designed to offer a clinical and educational perspective regarding gender identity.

Sharon currently resides in Asheville, North Carolina, and loves spending time outdoors and with friends. In her spare time, Sharon can be found crafting, nurturing her garden, and snuggling her cats Lucy and Ethel.

Ashley Egeland, CPSS

Admissions Coordinator & 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 admissions team as the Admissions 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.