Operations Team

Eric Day

Operations Manager

Eric got his bachelor’s degree in Outdoor Education from Georgia College and State University, which was the culmination of a lifetime spent exploring and learning in nature. He joined the Boy Scouts of America at a young age, which fueled and developed his passion for outdoor activities, especially backpacking, climbing, and whitewater kayaking. He started his professional work in the outdoors as a canoe guide/chief guide for the Boy Scouts of America in North Maine, and continued on as a whitewater canoeing instructor in Brevard, North Carolina, an outdoor education instructor in Runnings Springs, California, and a master recovery guide for Red Oak Recovery.

Eric came to the Foothills at Red Oak Recovery after spending 2.5 years at Red Oak Recovery®, the young adult men’s campus as a recovery guide, where he helped develop the ceremony program. Eric transitioned to Foothills at Red Oak Recovery and now is the Logistics Manager, where he brings all of his experience to support staff and clients alike in doing the work we need to do. In his free time, Eric likes to rock climb, cook plant-based food, watch nature documentaries, and play with dogs.

Nate Oglesbee

Program Director

For the past 13 years, Nate has worked with struggling teens and young adults in a variety of settings. He has led groups while paddling in his home state of Minnesota, hiking through the mountains and deserts of the West, and around the Asheville area as well. Nate is a firm believer in the power, joy, and effectiveness of experiential learning. At Foothills, Nate’s focus is on providing a safe and stable environment in which people can practice new skills and have reliable opportunities for growth.

Nate received his Master’s in Outdoor Education Administration in 2014 and has worked in previous positions of leadership, helping oversee day-to-day operations of therapeutic programs. He has worked as a guide in: wilderness therapy, a group home with adjudicated youth, and traditional outdoor education. He now devotes most of his attention to staff training and program development. Nate believes staff must role-model what we teach clients, and is always excited to see the healthy, meaningful relationships that are created between clients and Recovery Guides.

When not at work, you can probably find Nate out at a trivia night, on a trail run, watching a superhero movie, or getting upset at the latest Minnesotan sports team failure.

Michelle Reichl

Animal Caretaker

Michelle is from the small town of Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania and has been living in North Carolina for the last twelve years. She is a Registered Veterinary Technician and has been practicing veterinary care since graduating from Central Carolina Community College in 2016. She has experience working at multiple small animal clinics from Central to Western North Carolina and has most recently enjoyed working with a local animal control department.
With her degree, Michelle is qualified to see to the housing and care of all the animals who reside at the Ellenboro facility. She ensures that all of the animals are happy and healthy and oversees their interactions with everyone who visits the facility.

Michelle has had a life-long passion of caring for animals and has grown up with cats, dogs, and horses. She enjoys spending her free-time with her animals at home which includes three horses, two dogs, two cats, an Amazon tree boa, a Rose hair tarantula, and a bearded dragon. When she isn’t busy caring for all of her animals, she also enjoys hiking, practicing mindfulness, and working on outside projects.

Nick Aust

Kitchen Manager

Nick is a native to Asheville and is the proud single dad to his 14 year old son. He loves music and plays the bass guitar. He also loves sports and played baseball for Blue Ridge Community College. His passion for cooking is what brought him to Red Oak and he looks forward to being able to impact someone’s life through nutritional therapy.

Sarah Walton Condrey

Kitchen Assistant

Native to North Carolina, Sarah studied painting and illustration at the Savannah College of Art and Design. It was in 2009 that she began her journey through the world of recovery where she first discovered her passion for a healthy lifestyle mentally, spiritually, emotionally, and physically. These facets came together for Sarah in the kitchen where she found cooking to be her comfort, her outlet, her sanctuary, and her art.

The past ten years have been a challenging and wonderful dance interweaving her gifts as an artist through her love for cooking, nature, holistic healing, and an ever expanding and deepening spiritual practice.

Sarah went through a wilderness therapy program herself and experienced first-hand the magical and deeply healing powers of the Appalachian Mountains. She set out to work for a company that provided a similar program that transformed her own life.

She started as a Clinical Technician at The Willows at Red Oak Recovery®, and eventually took a break to chase a lifelong dream of hiking the Appalachian Trail.
It was on her hike that she felt the inner knowing of her true purpose lives in holistic health and guiding others to their healthiest, happiest, and most authentic versions of themselves through the food that they eat and the lifestyle practices they choose to cultivate.

It is Sarah’s hearts delight, and an absolute blessing to share her love, creativity, experience, strength, hope and gratitude through the food that she prepares at Foothills at Red Oak Recovery.

In her free time you will find Sarah running on trails, writing and illustrating children’s stories, practicing yoga, and connecting with others who share her enthusiasm for seeking peace, purpose, and elevating the collective consciousness of our wild and wonderful planet.