Katie Lee Announces Debut Book ‘UNEMPLOYABLE: The Katie Lee Story’

St. Louis restaurateur and entrepreneur Katie Lee, founder of KATIE’S Pizza & Pasta, has announced the release of her debut book, UNEMPLOYABLE: The Katie Lee Story, arriving September 27th via Swan Bluff Press.

The memoir, which carries ISBN 979-8-9964877-0-7, will initially be available exclusively at Target stores across the United States for $24.99 from September 27th through October 31st. The book will be featured on end-aisle displays alongside Lee’s line of pizzas, pastas, sauces and olive oil.

Lee describes UNEMPLOYABLE as “a roadmap for everyone who was told they didn’t have a chance.” Told in her own voice, the book chronicles her journey from a chaotic childhood in St. Louis through addiction, sobriety and single motherhood, ultimately tracing the creation and growth of her hospitality empire, which today employs more than 500 people.

The title comes from Lee’s late father, Tom Lee, whom she describes as a self-employed “hustler” and epileptic with brain damage. During her childhood, he repeatedly told her, “Katie, you’re just like me. You’re unemployable.”

Lee dropped out of high school at 15. At 29, she found herself at a halfway house on South Broadway in St. Louis with little more than a plastic grocery bag of belongings. That moment serves as the opening scene of UNEMPLOYABLE.

From there, the memoir follows Lee through waitressing, launching her first business with borrowed money and sheer confidence, opening and closing Katie’s Pizza, a Kickstarter campaign and the devastating loss of her best friend, Rolando Colon, just days before the COVID-19 pandemic forced the closure of the restaurants she had spent a decade building.

The book does not shy away from Lee’s struggles, including family dysfunction, relapse, grief and the fear of losing everything. At the same time, it explores the successes that followed and ultimately offers a message of hope and redemption. The book concludes with an epilogue set in Italy, focusing on Lee and her daughter, Nadia.

UNEMPLOYABLE is illustrated throughout by creative director Tony Gaddis, who also shares cover-design duties with Todd Hippensteel. Cover photography comes from Björn Wallander, while Headcase Design handled the book design.

Alongside the book, Lee is also preparing to release One Night at Katie’s, a vinyl album designed to capture the atmosphere of her restaurants through music. The 14-track album features original compositions and arrangements by ELPENTHE and Roman GianArthur, with contributions from Monica Martin, GianArthur, Tydell and Eric Beenk.

Lee explains:

“Let’s be clear – the album is not me making music; it’s hospitality as art. To that end, I wanted to have musicians who I admire create a soundtrack to pair perfectly with our food – so people can have a sensory experience at home just like they would in one of our restaurants.”

Beginning November 1st, both the book and album will be available through retailers across the country.

Lee’s story is closely tied to the rapid growth of KATIE’S. What began as a St. Louis restaurant business has expanded into four KATIE’S Pizza & Pasta locations, a frozen pizza manufacturing plant, a consumer-packaged-goods company, an e-commerce operation and a 300-acre farm-to-table property.

The company’s retail line has also expanded significantly. According to the announcement, KATIE’S grew from four products available in approximately 400 specialty grocery stores last September to 18 SKUs now available in more than 6,000 grocery stores nationwide.

The brand continues to emphasize the restaurant’s culinary techniques, including bronze-extruded pasta made with egg and semolina and hand-stretched, wood-fired pizza dough fermented for 48 hours. KATIE’S is described as the only women-owned certified pizza company operating at this scale, with Lee maintaining 100 percent ownership of the business.

UNEMPLOYABLE: The Katie Lee Story — Book Details

Author: Katie Lee
Publisher: Swan Bluff Press
ISBN: 979-8-9964877-0-7
Format: Hardcover
Price: $24.99
Publication Date: September 27, 2026