In this episode of Sticky Note Conversations, host Erika Washington sits down with actress, director, theater educator, and MFA artist Vanecia Boone for a wide-ranging conversation about building a creative, fulfilling life on her own terms.

Vanecia opens up about raising her eight-year-old son as a single Black mother — from navigating hypermasculinity and code-switching to the tough decision to pull him out of traditional school for homeschooling. She shares how motherhood transformed her from a free-spirited "couch surfer" into someone deeply intentional about safety, routine, and presence.

The conversation moves through Vanecia's lifelong love of theater, her upcoming role in Purlie Victorious at the International Black Theatre Festival in Winston-Salem, NC, and the plays that changed her life. She and Erika dig into AI's growing role in the classroom and in playwriting, the acting techniques she teaches her students (and her son) for "taking off the mask," and her path to becoming an herbalist after her own mother's death.

They close with a candid discussion of reproductive justice, birth stories, legacy, and what the American dream really looks like for a 38-year-old single Black woman building community, land, and freedom for the next generation.

Topics covered:

Becoming a mother and redefining herself
Raising a Black son with self-awareness and freedom
Homeschooling and navigating judgment as a parent
Her journey into theater and upcoming performance in Purlie Victorious
AI's impact on education, playwriting, and authenticity in art
Mental health, acting technique, and "weathering"
Herbalism, reproductive justice, and her birth story
Legacy, identity, and reclaiming her name after loss

Learn more about the International Black Theatre Festival at NCBlackRep.org.

(00:00) - Introduction
(01:38) - Meet Vanecia Boone
(04:03) - Who Is Vanecia? Values and Faith
(07:44) - Becoming a Mother
(09:36) - Raising a Black Son
(18:01) - Parenting Never Stops
(21:29) - Her Journey Into Theater
(26:28) - Plays That Changed Her Life
(29:52) - Black Theatre Festival and Purlie Victorious
(33:25) - Balancing Rehearsal and Motherhood
(36:18) - The Homeschooling Journey
(44:09) - Teaching the Next Generation
(50:39) - AI, Theater, and Authenticity
(56:42) - Masking, Weathering, and Mental Health
(01:01:52) - Becoming an Herbalist
(01:06:02) - Reproductive Justice and Her Birth Story
(01:16:45) - Legacy and the American Dream
(01:18:20) - Closing Thoughts