Karen holds a BSc in Psychology with specialization in Consumer Behaviour. After graduating with honours from Acadia University, she was hired as a Sales Rep for consumer products giant Procter & Gamble.  Over a 7 year period, she was promoted several times and became the Atlantic Regional Sales Manager for P&G in 1993.  During this time, she and her husband John (Gillighan) were starting their family.  The pressures of her corporate position weighed heavily on her, so when she became pregnant with her second daughter, she made the decision to look for an opportunity that would allow her to work from home.  She found the perfect situation in a US-based pharmaceutical company that was expanding to Canada, and in 1995 she made the decision to pursue that opportunity.  This partnership is what has allowed the Gillighans to realize their dreams of creating a horse farm to serve their community. Karen continues to work from home on contract and is also the Executive Director of Todd Hill Farm Association.