Under 40 and lookin' good at the CRBJ party

Award-winning Christopher Cecil

Picture this: A Tuesday night. Sunny, warm, breezy. Views of Charleston Harbor. Delicious un-oaky chardonnay. Great southern food and a rockin' cheese plate. Forty of Charleston's hottest young professionals and their even hotter (ahem) entourages. 

Team SLANT was there to cheer on our founder + creative director's inclusion in the 2011 CRBJ Forty Under 40 class (here's the backstory). Check out Christopher's CRBJ bio - you'll laugh, you'll cry. And read up on the rest of these Charleston hotshots. We'd list everyone we want to congratulate but that list would get, like, 40 people long.

Take a tour of the event pics plus this ridiculous and wonderful one from @obviouslee. Now, who are you nominating next year?

Update on 2011-05-17 14:26 by Lauren

Oh - P.S. Here's the ad of congratulations we ran in CRBJ's Forty Under 40 print edition:

click to enlarge

Christopher is a 2011 CRBJ Forty under 40 winner!

He's smart, he's successful and he opened SLANT six years ago when he was just 25. (We won't mention that brief stint in the slammer)

And if all that wasn't enough, we just heard that Christopher won a spot in the Charleston Regional Business Journal's "Forty under 40" class of 2011. This CRBJ distinction "recognizes 40 local business and professional leaders living and doing business in the Charleston region who are making their mark with professional and community involvement and are under 40 years of age." 

The Forty under 40 winners will be interviewed and photographed for the April 25th issue of the CRBJ, and they'll all be celebrated at Alhambra Hall on Tuesday, May 3. (Grab a ticket and come toast the man of the hour!)

Cheers and congrats, Christopher! Now don't use this accolade as an excuse to phone it in for the next 9 years. We still expect big things from you. What's that? You're busy opening a Greenville office? Well then... carry on.

Update on 2011-04-26 22:15 by Lauren

Official CRBJ Forty Under 40 winner list announced

The CRBJ made their official #FORTYU40 announcement on Friday - check out the list to see who will forever be known as the Class of 2011 alongside Christopher.

Congrats to all of the winners. We're looking forward to the party!

Christopher is getting locked up.

You know Christopher.

The one who helps old ladies cross the street. 

And coaxes kittens out of trees. 

And selflessly drinks Corona so other bar patrons won't run out of good beer. 

How can someone so inherently good be headed to jail?  Well, he's not really going to jail.   

But, on Wednesday, September 29th Christopher will be "Locked Up for Good" in the 2010 Downtown Charleston "A Taste of Charleston Lock-up" fund raiser for the Muscular Dystrophy Association.  He's calling on his similarly good-as-gold friends to help to raise "bail" for his release.

The money he raises (the goal is $2,400 for anyone who just wants to write one big check) will go to help fight Muscular Dystrophy in the Charleston community. 

Every amount helps and really matters to those living with muscular dystrophy who hope for treatments, cures and assistance.  

Here is where your money will go: 

• $30 Flu Shot
• $74 One minute of research
• $100 One support group session
• $150 One physical, occupational or respiratory therapy consultation
• $300 Professional fees related to initial diagnostic work-up at an MDA clinic
• $500 Assists one person for one year with the repair of a wheelchair or leg braces
• $800 Sends one child to MDA summer camp 

Did we mention the fundraising goal is $2,400? 

How to make a donation

Click here to donate online or, you can write a check* made payable to MDA and send it to: 

Muscular Dystrophy Association
29 Leinbach Drive, Suite D-5
Charleston, SC 29407
C/O: Christopher Cecil

*Be sure to include Christopher's name in the memo part of the check so that it will be attributed to his bail. And drop us a line or post in our comments section so we know we're closer to our goal. 

Thanks for joining Chrisopher's circle of those who do good deeds. We know you want to be just like him one day - now you're one step closer.