Bio

wife | mother | mental health advocate | pageant queen | proud greek

Jennifer Telios was born in Blue Island, IL of Greek immigrant parents who traveled to the United States in the 1950s from a northern town in Greece called Drama. She and her siblings took part in all of the Greek cultural traditions and rites of passage growing up - Greek school, church on Sundays, speaking the Greek language at home, visiting her family in Greece during the summers, and helping out at her parents’ restaurants and grocery store. She grew up with a strong work ethic, instilled by her parents: no matter how small or menial a job may seem, it has a purpose and a meaning.

She married Mike Yock in 2001 and they now live in Orland Park, IL with their three children, Michael (21), James (18) and Julia (13), who competed alongside her mom in the teen division of International Pageants as Miss Teen Greece International 2024.

In 2024, Jennifer got into pageantry competition as a means to challenge herself, get out of her comfort zone and expand her sisterhood outside of her family and friends. She finds that pageantry has enriched her life’s purpose by solidifying a charitable cause to support while advocating and raising awareness to help others through her platform, Healing Hearts, Helping Minds.

She treasures family time and prioritizes at least two family vacations per year, even as the kids have gotten older and have their own busy schedules. Other favorite family activities include movies, escape rooms, bowling, dinners out or going for walks with their two dogs, Lola and Mia, in tow. Some of her favorite ways to spend her time are with her mom and sisters (“girl time”), working out, organizing and tackling projects around the house, watching movies, trying new restaurants and traveling.

 

“the woman who follows the crowd will usually go no further than the crowd.

the woman who walks alone is likely to find herself in places no one has ever been before.”

— ALBERT EINSTEIN