Mary Jelkovsky, the founder of the Mary’s Cup of Tea blog, podcast, Instagram account and self-love retreats is using her platform to spread her message of body positivity.
Born out of personal struggle and a desire to own her own business, Mary’s Cup of Tea is “an online platform basically to inspire women to embrace their bodies and love themselves unconditionally,” Jelkovsky said.
Jelkovsky, an eating disorder survivor, created the Mary’s Cup Of Tea Instagram account and her subsequent endeavors as a result of her own body image and self-love journey. Her retreats have taken her to California, Arizona and Bali. Jelkovsky also spoke at a TEDxWomen conference.
Jelkovsky spoke at the woman-centered TEDx event that was independently organized by TEDxCherryCreek.
“It was all women of different walks of life and different colors and just ages. And they were so open and welcoming and the whole experience was just amazing,” she said.
Jelkovsky also spoke to the University of Maryland’s Panhellenic Association via Zoom for their Body Image and Self-Love workshop event in November. Lizzie Pichowicz, the vice president of membership development for the University of Maryland’s Panhellenic Association, said she still receives positive feedback about the event despite it being a month ago.
Pichowicz said over 400 women attended the virtual event, and attendees expressed gratitude, relief and inspiration after hearing Jelkovsky speak about self-love and body positivity.
“Mary is a speaker who deeply connected with our members, and the community could benefit from working with her further,” Pichowicz said. “She noted that this was her first time speaking to sorority womxn, but I think Mary has a real talent for this in particular and could help sorority womxn across the nation.”
This event was significant for Jelkovsky as well, as she said it was her first speaking event since her TEDx Talk.
Despite loving to spread her message, Jelkovsky said having a social media presence can take a toll on her mental health.
“I often feel so conflicted about it because I’m like, ‘If it wasn’t for social media I wouldn’t meet all these incredible people and I wouldn’t be able to do what I do,’” Jelkovsky said. “At the same time, like constantly getting picked apart … it just feels like nothing is ever good enough.”
Despite this, Jelkovsky continues to spread her message via Mary’s Cup of Tea and work toward her goals because she wants to help as many people as possible.
“I care about every single person, every single follower,” Jelkovsky said. “That that kind of takes a toll on me, but that’s something I would not change about myself.”