Our Team

Josh Hudnall

Senior Founder

“I have always been high functioning and driven,” Josh said, “But I was one of those guys who didn’t show much emotion, I didn’t know how to let myself be vulnerable, let other people in. On the outside, I was this stallion of a man. Inside, I never thought I was good enough, never at peace, always trying to fill a void. Before I was married, I struggled with sexual integrity, got caught up in the locker room culture. Life on the road has a lot of temptations.”
Josh, who has always loved seeing the underdog win, started working with his father-in-law at his cabinetry shop and began helping him in his work with people battling addiction as well. For Josh, his faith in a redeeming savior was a big part of it. He became recovery minster at White’s Ferry Road Church–a strong, diverse, grace-filled congregation there to help people with any type of “hurt, habit or hang-up.” At WFR Church, Josh helped establish Celebrate Recovery, now one of the largest CR programs in the county.
When Josh was approached by Dr. Adrian Hickmon, the founder of the highly respected Capstone Treatment Center in Arkansas, he was all in. Adrian said there was a real need in the area for a place for young men to go to help them transition between recovery and the real world. Research has shown time and time again that young men who enter a strong, evidence-based aftercare program instead of going straight home after rehab have a greater chance of success. Josh founded The Carpenter Shed in 2016.
“It’s not just about counting sobriety days here–it’s about changing hearts. There’s a step that’s missing between rehab and real life and we try to fill it,” Josh said. “We also offer support to our residents who, for some reason or another, just aren’t living up to their potential. Our goal is to help young men who think they’re nothing turn into something.”
As a lifetime health enthusiast, Josh believes the exercise, strength training, and sports component of the program is one of the biggest pieces to its success. The physical strength they gain replicates what they’re doing in recovery. “You find out more about yourself when you work out with your brothers,” Josh explained. “So, we workout, interact, play basketball with the guys…they feel themselves getting stronger in every way.”
On a personal level, Josh was fortunate to marry the love of his life, his high school sweetheart, Cherry Owen. Together, they have three boys – a seven-year-old and 15-year-old twins.

Andrew B. Dodson, PHD

Founder & Therapeutic Consultant

“At The Carpenter Shed, we’re doing what’s worked to raise young men for thousands of years,” Andrew said. “We have a tribe of guys here and we do life together. They learn to do things because it’s good and right–not because it’s what their parents and grandparents want.”
It’s Andrew’s hope that when your son leaves The Carpenter Shed, you won’t get back the same kid just minus the drugs, the porn, the gaming addiction, the waywardness or the idleness. Andrew’s goal is for your son to leave truly transformed, believing that he has a sense of purpose that will be a loss if not fulfilled–not just for him but for the world.
Today Andrew is married, happily, to Helen and is the father of two sons, ages four and 11. Their oldest child became a part of their family after his boss died, leaving her adopted son with no one and nowhere to go. Andrew and Helen found room in their home and in their hearts.
“Adopted kids have a set of very unique, primal wound challenges,” Andrew said. “But raising any boy in today’s world isn’t easy. At The Carpenter Shed, we understand that on both a professional and personal level.”

Kyle Smith

Founder & CEO

While serving in Iraq, Kyle was badly injured when a child threw a grenade into his truck in Bagdad–just a month after his marriage to his wife Kasie. Unable to walk for months, his body covered in shrapnel, Kyle developed a reliance on both drugs and alcohol. Later, his whole unit, the men he once led, were killed in an ambush. Add survivor’s guilt to the list of things Kyle would have to overcome. “I should’ve been there,” he told himself. “Maybe I could have stopped it.”
“Eventually, I was drinking, eating pills by the handful, and even doing intravenous drugs. My wife left me. I burned my life to the ground,” Kyle said.
Kyle went to rehab five times. Finally, after only 11 days sober, he found himself in the parking lot of WFR Church, looking for the Celebrate Recovery group, ready to stop lying, stop manipulating, ready to turn things over to God. He got through it with his faith, rebuilt his marriage with Kasie, started working for the program, one thing led to another, and now he’s found the life of purpose he once sought in the Army. It’s his turn to give back.
According to Kyle, The Carpenter Shed is different from other transitional programs because the team is authentic, genuine. “Fundamentally, we are all men of character. Still, we are real. We admit life is a scary place, but we show them you have to go through the journey head on.”
When Kyle isn’t helping your family, he’s spending time with his own. He and his wife are raising a seven-year-old boy and a four-year-old girl.