What do you get when you take a teacher with a big heart, then add some creativity, an eye for simple beauty, a soul that longs to uplift and an aptitude for business? You get the badass owner of Compliment Jewelry & Gifts, Melissa Camilleri.
We originally met Melissa online. Karina had participated in her 21 days of Instagram course and was immediately engaged by her professional yet warm demeanor. When we investigated further, we found that her jewelry company ‘Compliment’ not only lived by an outstanding motto: “we rise by lifting others”, but that they also donate a percentage of all of their sales to a scholarship they created to end generational poverty. At this point, we were pretty well convinced that she was wonderful and reached out to her with a proposal: a donation partnership that committed $5 of every purchase of our intro eCourse to the education of women and girls through the scholarship.
But aside from that, we were still curious about the woman behind this growing positivity empire. Luckily for us, she was able to take some time in the midst of her SUPER full schedule to tell us a bit about success, community and the power of surprising compliments.
If you could sum up your love for words in one word- what would it be?
Words are important to me because I’m very relational and have felt both torn down and uplifted by words. I know they have extraordinary power and with Compliment, I’m hoping to do my part to spread the message that when we uplift each other, we ARE actually making the world a better place. If I could sum up my love for words in one word it would be ‘AND’. And is a joiner. And is a hopeful beacon of more to come. And says there’s more out there. I love the possibility of AND.
When has giving a sincere compliment ever produced a surprising result?
Giving sincere compliments and encouragement is something that comes very naturally to me. I have the gift of encouragement and the thing that made me a good teacher is the same thing that makes me the best me – I can quickly see the good inside of people and draw that out by holding a mirror to that person’s character. I didn’t know this was a unique gift. I just thought it was something everyone did. So it’s hard for me to pinpoint a time when I was surprised by the effect a compliment has had on someone. It’s so common. Maybe the most surprising thing is how consistent the effects are. It’s like 100% of the time. I mean, I haven’t kept track, but I cannot recall a single time when a sincere compliment has not completely made someone’s day.
Now, if we want to talk ‘surprising compliments’ in general, I like the one that came through last Christmas from a guy to his wife. He requested we give the compliment “let’s try for baby #3.” All of the women in our office oohed and awed over that one because it was so sweet and a yet a little flirty too. We love the creative compliments that pass through our studio.
What does community mean to you?
Community, to me, is a group of people, gathered around a shared experience or belief or cause, who truly support one another. Right now, it’s kind of trendy to say you believe in community, but I can’t tell you how many times I’ve joined ‘communities’ only to find that the undercurrent is actually very fearful. Fear sometimes shows up as jealousy or competition or gossip and is usually rooted in scarcity. True community is rooted in abundance and the belief that there is enough love, success, money, belonging, beauty, creativity, and space for everyone. And everyone means EVERYONE. Those are the kinds of communities I’m interested in creating both on and off line.
When did you know that quitting your day job was eminent and to what do you attribute your success as woman in business?
Ooh… Those are both big questions that could take me all day to answer!
I knew it was time to quit my day job as a high school teacher when I had nothing left in my tank to give to my students. I worked with a pretty challenging population in terms of how much social and emotional support they needed to thrive. I gave teaching every ounce of what I had and I did it really well for nearly 10 years. But then, within the span of about 100 days, my marriage ended very abruptly and unexpectedly, and we lost three people in my family in really tragic, sad ways. So I was dealing with a ton of emotional loss and sadness and it was all I could do to get out of the bed in the morning, let alone support my 110 teenage students with so many needs. I was on empty. So I took a leave of absence.
During that time, working on my business was how I got through the days. It gave me something to focus on and hope for. When it came time to decide whether or not I’d be returning to the classroom, I just couldn’t because I didn’t feel ready to be able to do the kind of job I know needed to be done. I hadn’t filled my tank enough yet.
My story isn’t the most financially responsible one. I didn’t decide to quit after making a certain amount of money. I just leapt and figured out how to survive on the way down. I don’t suggest that route to everyone, obviously. But the fear of doing what I had always done became greater than the unknown and that’s how I knew I had to be brave and walk through the door that was opening for me. My success as an entrepreneur has everything to do with that faith. I had squelched that quiet voice inside of me for so long that it was barely a whisper back then, telling me to be brave and try something new. I also think that I gave up on the idea of perfection and that has really served me well. Done is better than perfect and that has allowed me to act quickly, stay limber, and make some really great moves so far in building Compliment.
If you could give women one piece of advice about being happy, what would it be?
Forgive and then let it go. Forgive the people who wrong you and forgive yourself. The quicker you can do that the happier you will be.
