
A MEMOIR BY CHEF JASON HEAD
People Matter
A Memoir of Love, Loss, Redemption, and Leadership
People Matter: A Memoir of Love, Loss, Redemption, and Leadership is the 2026 memoir by Jason Head, chef and owner of Fozzie's Dining in Cookeville, Tennessee, about losing his career, marriage and freedom, his time in prison, and the long road back.
Available on Amazon.
What happens when the life you spent decades building disappears almost overnight?
For years, Jason Head believed he knew what mattered. He had a family, a career, a home, and a future he could picture clearly. He was a husband and father, a successful financial advisor, and a man who believed he was building a life that would last.
Then everything changed. A series of choices, lies, and consequences shattered the life Jason thought he knew. What followed was not simply a criminal conviction or time behind bars. It was the loss of his marriage, his freedom, his identity, and the future he had imagined for himself and his children.
But prison wasn't the end of his story. In the quiet and loneliness of confinement, Jason was forced to confront the parts of himself he had spent years avoiding. He discovered that regret can be heavier than any sentence, and that redemption doesn't begin when someone else forgives you. It begins when you finally tell yourself the truth.
People Matter is a raw and deeply personal memoir about failure, shame, love, fatherhood, faith, forgiveness, and the long road back from losing almost everything. It is a story about the people who stayed when they had every reason to walk away, the people who opened their homes and offered friendship when Jason had little left to give, and who reminded him that a person's worst decision does not have to become the definition of his entire life.
Because when everything else is stripped away, people matter.
From the Author to the Kitchen
Jason Head is the chef and owner of Fozzie's Dining in Cookeville, Tennessee. Born and raised in Birmingham, Alabama, he spent nearly two decades in the securities industry before founding the catering company GameDay Gourmet in 2021, and then opening Fozzie's. His philosophy in the kitchen is the same one that gives the book its title: food brings people together, and the most meaningful memories are made at the table.
Read more about Chef Jason Head, see what he's cooking on the Fozzie's dinner menu, or reserve a table and meet him in person.
Book Details
- Author
- Jason Head
- Published
- August 14, 2026 (independently published)
- Formats
- Paperback (large print, 187 pages), hardcover, Kindle
- ISBN-13 (paperback)
- 979-8192638293
- Language
- English
People Matter: Common Questions
Who wrote People Matter?
Jason Head, the chef and owner of Fozzie's Dining in Cookeville, Tennessee. Before he became a chef he spent nearly two decades in the securities industry as a financial advisor.
What is People Matter about?
It is Jason Head's memoir of losing almost everything: a series of choices, lies and consequences led to a criminal conviction and prison, and with them the loss of his marriage, his freedom and the future he had pictured for his children. It follows what he learned in confinement and the long road back, and the people who stayed.
Where can I buy People Matter?
On Amazon in paperback ($14.99), hardcover ($19.99) and Kindle ($7.99). The paperback is a large-print edition, 187 pages.
When was People Matter published?
August 14, 2026. It is independently published.
Is Jason Head the chef at Fozzie's Dining?
Yes. Jason Head, nicknamed “Fozzie” in college for his red beard, is the chef and owner of Fozzie's Dining, a chef-driven restaurant in Cookeville, Tennessee.
