Bangor tattoo artist finalist for ‘Inked’ magazine cover

BANGOR, Maine (WABI) - A Bangor woman is turning her trials into triumphs with her tattoos.

Marybeth Fitzgerald has two passions: her tattoos and mental health advocacy.

“Yeah, a lot of my tattoos tell a story to me with mental health and how important is to take care of yourself and overcoming things,” said Fitzgerald.

Through her own personal platform, Mindset Fitz, Fitzgerald shares how changing her mindset helped her overcome hardships, from her time in foster care to experiencing homelessness at 16.

Tattoos then became a way for her to channel adversity into art, especially with her tiger tattoo.

“She’s just fierce. She represents overcoming life’s obstacles,” said Fitzgerald.

Fitzgerald now has a chance to share her story with a national audience.

She’s landed a top five spot in her group with other Mainers for a chance to be on the cover of “Inked” magazine.

She says the support from the community has been overwhelming.

“She’s a great person and it shows because she gets so much support from that. And she’s good at showing positivity and stuff like that,” said Robbie Thibodeau, personal trainer.

“It’s hard for me to put into words how grateful I am because like I said, I didn’t think it would become anything. But, I’ve had a lot of, even people who I don’t know, reach out and be like, hey, what you’re doing, you’ve inspired me to like step out of my comfort zone and do this or that,” said Fitzgerald.

Even though the chance to be featured on the cover of magazine sounds like a dream come true, Fitzgerald’s ultimate dream is to start a holistic healing center in Bangor and help others in the community struggling.

“I want to help others who are struggling, who may have struggled with mental health, or are struggling with mental health to feel like they can reach out, and you can overcome anything, and you can do things, even when you may not think you can,” said Fitzgerald.

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