Why I Started Barrier Buster

Barrier Buster started with an invitation.

George Brown College asked me to be a mentor in their industrial design class. Industrial designers create the products, tools and spaces people use every day, so it matters to hear from the people who use them.

I trained as a cook, and I live with cerebral palsy. I have run into more barriers in kitchens than I could ever name. Listing them isn't the point.

The point is that I don't settle.

When someone tells me I can't do something, it doesn't make me want to stop. It makes me want to try. "You can't" has never been a reason for me to give up. It has always been a reason to find another way.

That's how I approach a kitchen. If something is in my way, I don't accept that it has to stay there. I look for a different way to do the job, or a better tool, or a better setup. And if the kitchen itself is the problem, then the kitchen can change.

Being asked to mentor future designers showed me that this way of thinking is worth sharing. That's where the idea for Barrier Buster came from.

What I hope it can become

I want Barrier Buster to be a place for ideas that make professional kitchens more accessible. It isn't a store, and these ideas aren't finished products. They are starting points: problems worth solving, and conversations worth having with designers, chefs, employers and anyone who has been told a kitchen isn't for them.

If you've been told you can't, I hope you'll try anyway. If you've run into a barrier in a kitchen, or found a clever way around one, I'd love to hear about it. Together, we can keep breaking down barriers in the kitchen.