In this empowering episode of the Early Accountability Podcast, host Kimi Walker welcomes Cori Fonville Foster, a celebrated business implementation strategist and owner of IROC Marketable Business Solutions. With an inspiring journey from overcoming personal health challenges to becoming a successful entrepreneur, Cori shares her expertise in transforming vision into action for coaches, consultants, and service-based entrepreneurs.

Throughout the conversation, Cori and Kimi explore the practical steps and underlying mindset shifts needed to move from dreaming to doing in business and life. Listeners gain actionable strategies for getting unstuck, designing effective systems, and mapping out business flows that support sustainable growth. Cori introduces her signature approach, Movement, Momentum, and Mastery, highlighting how recognizing your stage in the entrepreneurial journey can unlock clarity and progress. From time audits to boundary setting, Cori offers real-world advice for avoiding burnout, harnessing accountability, and mastering implementation. The episode reminds us that building a profitable, purpose-driven business is a process and that grace, honesty, and focused action are the tools that turn plans into profit.

Topics Covered in This Episode

1. Cori’s path to entrepreneurship after a major life pivot
2. Addressing mindset as the foundational first step in any business journey
3. Breaking big goals into clear systems and step-by-step flows
4. The Movement, Momentum, and Mastery framework for ongoing business growth
5. Recognizing when it is time to seek help from an implementation strategist
6. Practicing time audits and setting boundaries to prevent entrepreneurial burnout

About Cori Fonville Foster

Cori Fonville Foster is a Business Implementation Strategist and Founder of IROC Marketable Business Solutions, a Black woman-owned agency dedicated to helping coaches, consultants, and service-based entrepreneurs turn plans into profit. With expertise in marketing, operations, and systems, Cori has guided hundreds of entrepreneurs through streamlined launches, sustainable workflows, and cohesive offers. Through her signature strategy-plus-execution framework and programs like Movement, Momentum, Mastery, she empowers business owners to scale with clarity, avoid burnout, and build thriving, chaos-free enterprises.

Connect with Cori Fonville Foster

Website: https://www.irocmarketablebusinesssolutions.com

Email: irocmbs@gmail.com

Connect with Kimi Walker

Website: https://earlyaccountability.com

LinkedIn: Kimi Walker

Facebook: Kimi Walker

Instagram: Kimi Walker

YouTube: Kimi Walker

Kimi Walker here and welcome back to the next episode of the

Early Accountability Podcast.

Today our guest is Cori who is a celebrated business

implementation strategist.

She is over IROC Marketable Business Solutions, and she is an agency

that helps coaches, consultants, and service-based entrepreneurs

turn their plans into profit.

Cori, first off, thank you so much for being on the show.

Thank you so much for having me.

I'm just.

So excited for the conversation that we're gonna have, and I'm hoping that,

your audience gets some ideas, let the, the will start turning in their mind

when it comes to business, but also life.

Yes.

And so you have a great, your implementation strategist, which I love,

and the early accountability is not about, we turned dreamers into doers, right?

We're all here about action and action in the first stages.

So tell us how you actually started your own business.

Oh my gosh.

So this is my second business.

And I'm happy that this was not my first, it probably wouldn't have been

very successful, but I actually had no intentions of being an entrepreneur.

That was not something I saw for myself, but I have a really rare eye condition

that caused me to have to leave like the regular nine to five workforce.

And so I was like if I can't work a regular job, what can I do?

Because as we all know, bills.

Keep coming regardless.

And so I had my mom, she had a little vending type business where she would

go to vending events and sell things.

So my first business was actually me making my own like candles

and soaps and bath bombs and just things that make women feel great.

And it really let me kind.

I put my toe in the water for business and to see that, hey, I like this.

I'm pretty good at this.

I can sell some things.

But it also allowed me to see there was a gap in the market because I would

talk to my vendor booth neighbors and I would ask them like, how was business?

And I found that a lot of people were struggling.

To really have profitable, sustainable businesses.

And so that's why I started IROC Marketable Business Solutions because

I said, there are lots of people out there that need support, who

need done-for-you services, who need help implementing accountability

strategy systems automation.

And so that's how this business was formed.

And I was thrust into entrepreneurship.

But I do love it.

I'm thankful that I was put into this place because I've been able to

help so many people over the years.

Okay, so you do a lot with marketing operations systems.

What has been the biggest, I think like roadblock you would say you see people or

new business owners or entrepreneurs, when you're getting ready to try to do a shift

or a pivot or start a new project, what's one of the biggest things when it comes

to actually getting unstuck and doing.

I think it starts with mindset.

Like most things in life, you really have to wrap your mind

around what you're trying to do, and the vision has to be clear.

Because when the vision is not clear within you, and especially if

you have a team, it's man, you're really gonna have a uphill climb.

There's probably gonna be a lot of stumbling block

blocks and things like that.

So I always tell people like, make sure your mind is ready.

Like things are gonna be difficult.

There may be trial and error.

There may be times when we gotta pivot.

There may be times when we just have to scrap it and start again.

But if we go into business, heck, if we go into life with that mentality, we

are more prepared to tackle things as they come and not get overwhelmed, not

get frustrated, not be ready to give up.

And so I always tell clients like, get your mindset in check

'cause we're about to work.

And if they do that, they're they seem to be a lot more successful.

So I know there can be a lot when you're starting to do something new

or do something different when it comes to like systems or project.

Having a team, what are some things that you like, recommend people do when they're

trying to start a new system or trying to be more like on top of things to be

able to actually implement it without like chaos or without losing your mind.

Yeah, that's a great question.

I would tell people to write it out first, right?

In whatever form you like.

Some people are like.

Pen and paper.

Some people are digital.

Whatever works best for you, but write it out if you have to draw

it out so that it makes sense and you can see how things connect.

A lot of times we call those like flows where you're going from one spot to

the next, and there are things that are needed to build the process up, whether

it is systems, whether it's automation.

Whether it is people, whether it is learning new skills, and when it's all

mapped out, it's a lot easier to follow.

And if you do have team bringing them into that process and showing them

like, Hey, this is the vision that I have, this is how we go from A to

Z, and all the places in between.

So if you are someone who is feeling a little stuck, feeling a little bit

confused or not understanding why, what you're thinking is not connecting to

the people who are working with you.

Write it out, draw it out, do whatever you need to do so that you

can see the vision that is in your mind so that it's easier to execute.

Talk to us about movement, momentum, and mastery.

Yeah, so look, the Three Ms. Movement, momentum, and Mastery it's actually

the name of our kind of project management style coaching system.

That we utilize with our clients.

And it's really for our clients to understand that there's not

really an end in business, right?

Unless you're quitting.

And so we tell clients like, we get that you need different things at different

points, and you need to realize what stage you're in so that you can get

the support you need at that time.

And when we think about business owners and they're like where am I?

It's you may be in a stage of just growing, right?

You may be in a stage of learning new things, trial and error, trying to

figure out who you really wanna support, how you really wanna support them.

But then you may be in a place where that's perfectly

clear, but you can't scale up.

You can't get to the next level.

Or you may have scaled and now you're just exhausted because

you've done all the things.

You need more team, you need more systems and things.

So we really when we talk to prospective clients or when we re connect with

previous clients, we sit down and say, where are you in the journey?

What's really.

What's really your struggling point?

Because everyone isn't the same and I don't wanna guess.

I'm big on I'm not gonna guess.

You tell me, we gonna talk about it.

So we talk about it and we say, where are we in the journey?

What do we need?

And then we make sure that they are put in a place where we can support them best.

And again, going back to that vision, understanding their vision and what

the next 3, 6, 9, 12 months looks like for them so we can support them.

Okay.

Awesome.

How would someone like an entrepreneur or someone looking to, or even thinking

about going into entrepreneurship, how would they know if they need

an implementation strategist?

I would say take a hard look in the mirror, right?

Some of us know like just because you are switching to a new type of thing, right?

Maybe you're coming from your nine to five.

Maybe you've been a stay at home wife for a long time and you're transitioning.

Whatever the case may be, if you struggled to be accountable in that

position, whether it was line cook, whether it was CFO, whatever it was.

If you struggled with accountability for yourself, if you struggle with being

honest about shortcomings, if you struggle with delegation, so many things, then

you're probably someone who needs somebody to come in and help you implement.

Because most of us in business are very creative.

We're those thought people, and we will have all these

thoughts going all the time.

We struggle to actually get those things done.

That's why you have a half done project over here, half

done project over there, right?

And so I'm like, okay, if that is you and you know why?

Go through the whole process of, oh, let me try it and see what I can do by myself.

We already know, right?

When you were a housewife, you struggle to remember to do laundry

on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, right?

The clothes getting the wash, but they never get in the dryer.

If that's the case, you struggle business.

I'm just being honest.

So if you know that you need accountability, if you know that you

need someone to support you, or if you lack some business skills and you want

somebody to help draw you a roadmap, talk to an implementation specialist and see

what strategies they can help you with to make sure you can actually execute the

things that you wanna execute in business.

Okay.

So you're like an implementer.

Yes,

Okay.

Gotcha, gotcha.

Got you.

So you're, they're coming with the vision, you're get helping 'em get it

done or helping them to guide themselves, get it done, or helping them with it.

Okay.

So I do wanna talk about burnout.

So I know you've worked with a lot of entrepreneurs and it's different.

Everybody's busy nowadays.

That's the new thing.

Everybody's always really busy with just regular life.

Trying to grow and scale a business or start a new venture it can be very

easy to start feeling like there's always something else to be done.

And so turning it off, or, not just getting like where you're just

burning, the candle at both ends.

What do you recommend for burnout prevention or to put boundaries

in place where it is still being accountable to yourself, but also,

taking care of yourself as well too.

Yeah, I think that's such a great question because.

I think that burnout is just so real, especially for newer entrepreneurs

because a lot of times they don't have the funds to have the team.

They're trying to learn a lot of things while also running a business, and they're

basically burning the candle at both ends.

And so when I work with clients, something I talk about.

To them is, first let's just get real with what really is going on in your life.

And I say, audit your time.

So sometimes it's a week, sometimes it's two weeks.

Sometimes we even take a month and they will literally write down what

they're doing day in and day out.

So we can see realistically like how much time can put towards your business.

Sometimes it's 10 hours a month, sometimes it is 60 hours a week.

It just depends.

But when we take that honest look, it allows us, it's

that realistic expectation.

Some people are gonna.

Go fast, right?

They're going to be able to do a lot.

They're gonna have the funds, the support, the education, that's great for them.

But some of us are gonna have to go a little slower.

So by doing that audit, we are able to plot out this is what

we really have in front of us.

Then we can make plans, and then we can also set boundaries.

So if you're so used to saying yes to, yeah, I'll be the soccer

mom, cheerleader, whoever, like I'll support the team over here.

I'll help out at the church.

You know you're saying yes to the fundraiser drives, you're on the PTA.

You may have to say no to some of those things 'cause we've already looked at your

time and we only have this much time left.

Once it's full.

And that is, that really enables us to make sure that

we're not burning out so much.

And sometimes we gotta go back and readjust.

We're gonna, some people say, yeah, they'll say oh, I got this much time.

But then we forgot that you like to do devotionals in the morning.

We forgot that you gotta do more baby.

You got a baby that cries at night, we gotta adjust.

And that's something that I recommend for everyone.

Be okay with adjusting, be okay with pivoting.

'Cause that will also help you not burn out, but also stick to your boundaries

that you set, especially after an audit, because that's the data that tells you

like, Hey, this is what I gotta do.

This is how much time I have.

Awesome.

Cori how can the audience find out more about you?

What are some of your offerings right now for business owners and entrepreneurs?

Yeah, so if you are looking to just chat with me and learn more about how.

My team can support you, whether that is with Done for You services

through our marketing firm.

Things like websites, logos, email campaigns social media management,

VA services we can support you there.

We also do have amazing coaching programs.

We have group coaching and one-on-one that allows us to actually help you create.

Is there something that you're interested in?

I always suggest booking a free coffee chat.

It's completely virtual.

You can be in your pajamas if you want.

But we just talk.

No pressure.

We talk about.

You know what your goals are, what's growing really well in your

business, what's not going so well, and we're able to move on from there.

To find us anywhere on social, just put in IROC Marketable Business Solutions.

And if you're looking for our websites, it's irocmarketablebusinesssolutions.com.

That's irocmarketablebusinesssolutions.com.

And I believe we're gonna put the link, the direct link in the show notes for you

as well so you can feel free to use that.

And I would love to speak with you about your business.

So definitely Cori we will have everything in the show notes.

For the audience, thank you again so much for coming and lending your expertise

and giving us awesome strategies on how to implement and not just think

about things and getting going.

Thank you so much for being a guest on the podcast into the audience.

Until next time.