Tinley Park, IL – The road from the nursing floor to entrepreneurship was anything but smooth for KeShaun Harding, MSN, APRN-FPA, FNP-BC. A Registered Nurse for 15 years and Nurse Practitioner for five, Harding now stands at the helm of two growing ventures: Obsidian Aura Med Spa in Tinley Park and The K.E.Y Collective, a coaching company that helps women move from burnout to breakthrough.
Her entrepreneurial spark first showed up in community service. Years ago, she co-founded a youth nonprofit in the Chicagoland area, mentoring kids through football and cheerleading. “That program showed me I could build something that lasts,” she recalls. “It planted the seed.”
That seed grew into a med spa, which Harding opened nearly five years ago. Like many small businesses, the early days were filled with uncertainty. “There were times I thought I needed to close the doors,” she admits. “That’s when I realized: entrepreneurship isn’t for the weak. You need mindset work before the profits, before the scaling, before everything else.”
It’s that lived experience that shaped her From Crash Out to Cool Out Method™, the foundation of The K.E.Y Collective. The method blends emotional regulation, mindset shifts, and practical strategy to help high-achieving women stay grounded while chasing their goals. “Be still. Go to therapy. Ask for help,” Harding advises. “Those are the starting blocks.”
The formula works. Harding beams when talking about a mentee who launched her med spa months ahead of schedule, expanded to a second location, and ultimately left her traditional job behind. “When she told me she’d turned in her two-week notice, I knew this work mattered,” Harding says. “That was her freedom moment.”
For Harding, freedom is more than financial. It’s personal. She’s candid about her own journey of healing childhood trauma, finding faith, and rebuilding her relationship with God. “I once felt like a caged bird,” she says. “Therapy, prayer, and using my voice changed everything.” That honesty fuels her Story That Built Me event series, where Chicagoland women gather to share the moments that shaped their resilience. “The room comes alive when we realize we’re not alone,” she explains. “We’ve all carried something.”
Harding’s work is grounded in the Chicagoland area, where she has become both a healthcare provider and a community leader. Obsidian Aura Med Spa sits in Tinley Park, blending aesthetics with empowerment. She recently earned recognition from iHeartRadio’s Brilliantly Black Business initiative, and she’s slated to keynote the Nurses Week convention later this year.
Her coaching services span one-on-one mentorship, mastermind groups, and corporate trainings designed to boost team wellness and productivity. “Workplace culture shifts when people manage their mindset,” she notes. “It’s not just about output—it’s about balance.”
Yet what sets Harding apart isn’t just her résumé—it’s her refusal to play small. She calls herself “schooled in life,” pointing out that no certification could replace the lessons she’s endured. “I didn’t read this in a manual,” she says. “I lived it.”
As the Chicagoland area faces economic headwinds, Harding believes mindset will be the region’s greatest resource. “The problem isn’t lack of ambition,” she says. “It’s the weight we carry—trauma, fear, self-limiting beliefs. When we shift our perception, we shift everything.”
Her message is drawing a following across the suburbs and city alike, particularly among Black women entrepreneurs seeking both accountability and community. Harding insists collaboration is key. “We act like crabs in a barrel, but if we work together, we climb out faster,” she says. “That’s what The K.E.Y Collective is about—sisterhood, accountability, and building each other up.”
For all her successes, Harding isn’t slowing down. With events, workshops, and speaking engagements on the horizon, she envisions a ripple effect that extends well beyond Tinley Park. “I’m just getting started,” she says.
And she says it with the certainty of someone who has already unlocked the key.