Check Out Hannah Buechler’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Hannah Buechler.

Hi Hannah , can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I am currently the Program Director at The Golden Scoop. I started with The Golden Scoop in the fall of 2023 as an occupational therapy capstone student. For my capstone project, I worked on creating recipe cards and training videos for the associates at The Golden Scoop to increase their independence and skills in the workplace. After completing my capstone in November 2023, I became working at The Golden Scoop as a part-time shift manager. After graduating from Rockhurst with my doctorate in occupational therapy in December 2023, I stayed with The Golden Scoop as a shift manager. I eventually moved into a co-operations director role and now the current program director position. My role at The Golden Scoop is to oversee all of our associate’s schedules, and work goals, and create any resources, accommodations or adaptations they may need in the workplace.

Each of our associates has 2 goals relating to the workplace such as professionalism, communication, and work skills. The shift managers and I try to work on each associate’s goals during their shifts each week and collect data to track goal progress. Most of our associates are highly motivated to work on their goals each week to master another skill in the workplace in which they feel confident and independent. It’s incredibly rewarding to see the progress made by our associates and the happiness they feel when they have mastered a new goal/skill.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
We opened our second location in September of 2024 which is very exciting! As with any new location or business, we have had a few bumps in the road which we have overcome and figured out as a team. In the last year, we have had a few different platforms we have trialed to track our associate’s goal progress on, however, did not find the right fit until recently when we established a platform and structure in place that has worked best for our team.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
The Golden Scoop is a non-profit ice cream and coffee shop that employs individuals of all abilities. I am the current program director at The Golden Scoop and am a licensed occupational therapist. I love getting to use my OT skills at The Golden Scoop to assist our associates in having meaningful employment where they work on mastering new goals to increase their confidence and independence in the workplace!

In terms of your work and the industry, what are some of the changes you are expecting to see over the next five to ten years?
I hope in the next 5-10 years that there will be even more opportunities for meaningful employment for individuals of all abilities.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://thegoldenscoop.org/
• Instagram: @thegoldenscoopkc
• Facebook: @thegoldenscoop