Monday Morning Mumbles : Compliment.

Good morning you beautiful you!

Today I want to talk to you about a wonderful place called Compliment. This Sacramento based business dedicates it's time to spreading kindness through jewelry donned with compliments.

Compliment.

"Every one of us has a little bucket in our soul that needs pretty active attention. When we are feeling down, our buckets are empty and it's impossible to be loving to others with empty buckets. And so we must find things to keep our love buckets full for ourselves. For me, it's creating--be it writing, dancing, singing, cooking, painting, or making jewelry. But I'm also able to refill my bucket by filling someone else's. When we notice the people around us could use a boost, it's our job to do something kind to refill their bucket. Something to uplift. Something to build them up. One easy way is to give them a sincere compliment."

-Melissa Camilleri (Founder of Compliment)

Property of shopcompliment.com

This wonderfully unique business is dedicated to providing quality jewelry along with a gift for the spirit. With each purchase you make, you receive a compliment. You have the opportunity to write a compliment or have the inspiring team at Compliment create one for you.  

In order to find out more about Compliment and the woman behind it all, I took to polluting Founder and CEO Melissa Camilleri's mailbox with questions all about Compliment. I asked her everything from how she stays grounded on a stressful day, to the funniest Compliment a guy has ordered. 

Kirsten Nicole Huxtable: How did Compliment come to be?

Photograph by Meredith Carty

Melissa Camilleri: I was making jewelry for my friends and family for gifts, just as a hobby while I was working as a high school English and AVID teacher.  The week before Homecoming, one of my senior girls asked me to make her a ring to match her dress.  By the end of the week, I had 23 orders on my desk.  So I decided if I could sell them online, maybe I could raise a little money to help my very deserving students with a little extra cash for college.  I was working with a student population with great academic potential, but little means for affording college.  It was a great creative outlet that allowed me to give back.  Before I had a business name, or a branding idea, I was writing little notes to the girls who had ordered these rings, letting them know how proud I was of them, how I've seen them grow, how their spirit affected so many people positively, things like that.  Encouragement comes very easily to me, and is what helped me create a very loving community in my classroom year after year.  Someone told me that I was really good at giving compliments.  Then I had a little flash of insight:  Compliment should be the name of my company.  It was just too perfect and very authentic to who I am and who I want to be in the world.

KNH: On a tough day of work/life, what keeps you motivated?

MC: Prayer. I meditate, and though I haven't yet gotten into a consistent schedule, I definitely meditate to clear my head and release the doubts and fears that can creep in on a tough day.  I have also learned to surround myself with pretty incredible human beings who really believe in me and my gifts.  They help remind me how strong I am, how much I've grown, and are always willing to listen when I need to lean.

KNH: Why is the idea of a/Compliment so important in today's society?

MC: I think the values that Compliment stands for have been important since the dawn of time.  They are equally relevant in today's society as they will be in the future.  I think our Western culture is a little more rooted in the individual and less on the collective good.  It's about the more more more, gimme, it's mine mindset.  It's a culture of scarcity-- meaning that if you get yours, I won't get mine.  And I've never operated like that.  I never liked competitive sports because I didn't like anyone to lose.  I think we really can all live well and we can all feel good.  Truly.  So being kind for no reason, telling someone how much they mean to you, giving yourself a word of encouragement?  I think that's always been something to strive for as humans and I think it always will be.  It gives me so much joy to be a part of the kindness that  is spreading each day from person to person.

KNH: What has changed most in your life since the creation of Compliment?

Photograph by Meredith Carty

MC: Wow.  So much.  I left classroom teaching.  That was a huge.  I had to kind of figure out my new identity.  Like, "who am I if I'm not a teacher?"  It seems so silly, but that was a huge part of my identity.  And now, I realize more and more that I'm always going to be a teacher.  I love sharing information and processes.  I do that still, just not in the classroom.  In addition, time feels different now that I am running Compliment full time.  I have more freedom to go at my own pace and to take care of myself (which I was not good at while I was in the classroom).  If my body needs sleep now, I sleep.  If I need to take a walk, I take a walk.  It seems so simple, and I suppose it is, but it was impossible the way my life was going prior to starting Compliment.  My life is so different in so many ways.  I loved being in the classroom, don't get me wrong.  I loved being a teacher.  I also love being a CEO.  It's all good.

KNH: (And finally) What is the funniest/ sweetest/ most creative Compliment someone has asked for you to send?

MC: Oh my… every single day people send the most LOVING, SWEET things to the people they care about.  One of the cutest was when a guy asked me to make a ring for his wife so he could re-propose to her on their 10 year anniversary.  The compliment said "Will you marry me… again?"  Super cute.  And then one of the cheekiest compliments we've ever sent was also from a guy to his wife at Christmas.  It said, "Let's try for #2", as in their second baby!  We giggled at that one.  The guys are creative! haha

Property of shopcompliment.com

I had the chance to meet Melissa and part of the Compliment team while filming a spot for her business back in January of this year. More then anything I was pleased by the sincerity and passion for what she has created. It's more then a piece of jewelry. It's a reminder that each and every one of us deserves happiness.

If you are in the market for a gorgeous gift, look no further! I know that may have sounded like a bad 90s infomercial... but seriously, Compliment has everything you need to remind those in your life how loved and adored they are.

PLUS! If you sign up via email at shopcompliment.com, you can receive 15% off your first order. Just look for the "sign up" section in the upper right hand corner to get started.

For your sorority sisters who helped you make posters until two in the morning. For the moms in the neighborhood who volunteered at the annual block party. For the best friend that makes shopping for them a full time job.

You can also purchase Gift Cards.

Property of shopcompliment.com

If you are in the area and want to stop by to check out the wonderful things the ladies at Compliment are cooking up for you, then you can visit them at:

930 Alhambra Blvd., Suit 293

Sacramento, California 95816

Follow Compliment on social media:
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Don't forget to tell those you love, just how loved they are.

Love Always,

Kirsten Nicole Huxtable