During an interview with Ebony magazine, Phyllis opened up about the career obstacles she faced as a result of her marital problems. After years of struggling to conceive and make the marriage work, things ended in divorce:

“I tried to focus on having a marriage, a child. When I wasn’t able to conceive later with my husband it broke up our relationship. So I came back to work.”

 

What Phyllis Yvonne Stickney Does Now

Although Phyllis took years off from acting, she has no regrets. She even revealed what she spent her time doing. She actually took a negative situation and managed to transform it into something positive and beautiful. It has been reported that she’s taken the St. James Court building in Harlem, NY and transformed it into a site for several business ventures. The formerly dilapidated, drug-infested building is now the home of Yvonne’s budding business ventures.

“There was a building in Harlem that became drug infested. I moved away, kept the apartment and after I became famous I came back to save the building. It took 5 years of my life,” she says. “I closed three crack houses and a heroin shooting gallery in my building. I pretty much became a social worker.”

However, that’s not all she’s done. Phyllis still has the acting bug, but instead of being in front of the cameras, she’s more focused on the theatrical side of acting:

“The challenging thing is connecting to the generation who forgot what I did and remaining relevant. So for me to be a poet, designer, and all those things is how I get to pass it on to younger talent.”

There’s nothing like seeing a strong woman bounce back from adversity and keep on keepin’ on like she never missed a beat.