Crain's 40 Under 40 Class of 2011

Each year, Crain's Chicago Business surveys the local landscape, looking for the dealmakers and dreamers, forward thinkers and straight talkers who deserve to be spotlighted in our annual 40 Under 40 roundup.

This year, we combed through more than 700 nominations from readers, searching for Chicagoans who have made it to the top of their fields before reaching their 40th birthdays.

These 40 people made the final cut.

The Class of 2011 includes entrepreneurs like Lindsay Gaskins, founder of Marbles: The Brain Store, tech-industry booster and OkCupid founder Sam Yagan, and Braintree founder Bryan Johnson. Food-industry veterans such as brothers Jerrod Melman and R.J. Melman made the list, as did Tim McEnery of Cooper's Hawk Winery & Restaurants and Dave Beran of Next restaurant fame. Rising stars in the corporate world also are represented, including CBRE's Chris Connelly, Kyle Barnett of BMO Harris Bank, and CME Group's Julie Winkler.

In video interviews, we also asked the 40 Under 40 honorees to tell us how they undo the stress of their day jobs during their off hours. Answers ranged from rejuvenating runs by the lakeshore to bouts of "retail therapy" to cooking for friends and family. The common denominator: activities that shut out the "noise" of professional life. For Jet magazine Editor-in-Chief Mitzi Miller, reading by the lake does the trick: "I love to grab a trashy novel, good magazine, anything where I can escape, and I head over to the nearest body of water."

For the complete story, click here.