Breaking Down Barriers
John-David Skene
Big ideas. Fewer barriers. Better kitchens.
Drawing on his culinary training and lived experience with cerebral palsy, John-David explores ideas for making professional kitchens more accessible—so more people can put their talents to work.
Meet John-David
Meet the man behind Barrier Busters.
John-David Skene is a culinary graduate with a creative outlook and a habit of turning goals into accomplishments.
He earned a cooking diploma and a recreation leadership diploma, represented Canada internationally in shot put and javelin, and is working toward his Taekwondo black belt. He brings the same determination to Barrier Busters: a place to ask how professional kitchens could work better for people of every ability.
Positive, determined, and someone who turns dreams into achievements: that is how his cousin Curt describes him.
Read John-David’s storyThe vision
Talent belongs in every kitchen.
Professional kitchens are built for speed and precision, but often around a single idea of how a cook moves, reaches and grips. Counter heights, tool designs and working routines can quietly shut out skilled people.
Barrier Busters is a place to explore those challenges in the open: to name the barriers, share ideas for removing them, and bring together the people who could make better kitchens real.
Ideas featured here are concepts for discussion and development. They are not products, and they have not been tested.
Areas for exploration
A better kitchen starts with a better question.
These are not finished inventions. They are three areas worth exploring, each starting with the same question: what could we rethink?
Tools that are easier to grip, steady, and control
Knives, pans, peelers and ladles are usually designed around one kind of hand and one kind of grip.
What could we rethink? What would a knife handle look like if steadiness mattered as much as sharpness?
Workspaces that accommodate different reach and mobility needs
Counter heights, aisle widths and storage are often fixed long before anyone asks who will be working there.
What could we rethink? What if a prep station could change height as easily as an office desk?
Kitchen routines that support different ways of working
Kitchens run on habits: who does what, in which order, at what speed. Habits can be redesigned too.
What could we rethink? Which tasks could be split or sequenced differently without slowing service?
Taekwondo
Discipline in every pursuit.
Taekwondo is one of John-David’s proudest commitments, and he is working toward earning his black belt in 2027.
Every belt is earned through practice, patience and showing up when progress is slow. He brings the same persistence, and the same willingness to keep learning, to every question Barrier Busters asks.
More about his Taekwondo journeyFrom the blog
Ideas, experiences, and the road ahead.
My Journey Toward a Black Belt
Training, persistence and the goal of earning a black belt in 2027.
What Makes a Kitchen Accessible?
A look at the tools, layouts and routines that decide who can work comfortably and safely in a professional kitchen.
Why I Started Barrier Busters
John-David on where the idea for Barrier Busters came from, and what he hopes it can become.
Community
Your experience could spark the next idea.
The best ideas for accessible kitchens will come from the people who know them best.
- Kitchen professionals with disabilities
- Chefs and kitchen teams
- Designers
- Educators
- Allies
Let’s collaborate
Help bring an idea to life.
John-David welcomes conversations with designers, manufacturers, culinary schools, accessibility specialists and anyone who would like to help turn a concept into something real.
Start a Conversation