Our Story

 A nurse walked into a bar.

Actually, a nurse walked into a hospital. Then into graduate school. Then into a coffee shop that she wished would’ve had alcohol.

That nurse, now turned PhD, is Rylie Hightower—founder of The Lumbar.

A few months into graduate school, Rylie attended a continuing education seminar where the speaker began with, "When I was in medical school, a bunch of my buddies and I went to the local pub to talk about our research." He went on to explain how that one night at the pub ultimately gave rise to collaboration that would eventually lead to the country's first pediatric bone marrow transplant.

This confirmed Rylie’s thoughts that she couldn't possibly be the only one who wanted to throw back a cold one while dreaming about the impossible. So what do you do when you need a place to dream? You build it.

There is one place Rylie has always turned when she has needed help building something: her dad. Rylie knew that as a professional structural engineer, Tim could build anything. At the time, Tim was living in their hometown of Albuquerque, New Mexico. After more than a few long phone calls and some bargaining for him to move to Birmingham, the plans for the bar began to unfold. By January 2018, construction began on the dynamic space in Birmingham’s historic Pepper Place district and the doors officially opened on November 30, 2018.

Science is where we turn when things become impossible. Here at The Lumbar, we use liquid courage as a catalyst to empower every person that walks through the doors to be someone who chases the impossible.

—Rylie