Caroline has a wealth of real-world experience. Caroline worked as a Reuters journalist for a decade. She then became a freelance editor and later ran her own business in Totnes. Her experience of running a small business on a traditional high street and competing against online shopping giants gave Caroline a gritty understanding of the pressures faced by those running small businesses in a rural community.Her work as a journalist led her to live in six European countries, and she speaks several languages. Caroline worked in both English and French in the European Parliament.​Caroline has been involved in several charities. She was voluntary Chair of Widowed and Young after losing her first husband, and more recently worked as Operations Manager for Landworks, a groundbreaking rehabilitation charity for prisoners near Totnes.She was, until most recently, the Chief Executive of Devon's largest provider of support to survivors of sexual violence and abuse, Devon Rape Crisis & Sexual Abuse Services.