Some people spend a lifetime searching for work that feels less like a job and more like a calling. Antegone Kourpas, Extended Care Services Support Manager at Presbyterian Senior Living, found hers in the most unexpected way. With a background in fine arts, a season as a devoted stay-at-home mom, and a spark of inspiration from a late-night television moment, Antegone embarked on a journey into nursing that would ultimately lead her to become one of PSL's most trusted and beloved leaders. More than 16 years later, she's still going strong and she wouldn't have it any other way.
Antegone's path to senior care wasn't a straight line and she'll be the first to tell you so. "I have to be honest here," she says with a laugh. "I was a stay-at-home mom. My first degree was a bachelor's in fine arts. I worked mostly in graphic design until I had my daughter."
After stepping away from her career to raise her family, Antegone found herself restless and searching for something more. The turning point came one quiet evening at home. "I was sitting on the couch holding my daughter. She was about eight months old and something came on TV about the elderly. It wasn't something happy. It was something sad. And I said to myself, 'I really want to be a nurse and just really help the elderly.'"
That moment of clarity changed everything. Antegone went back to school, earned her nursing degree, and dove headfirst into long-term care. The field she knew, even then, would be her passion.
When Antegone was ready to take on her first full-time nursing leadership role, she interviewed at two communities simultaneously. One was polished and impressive. The other was Westminster Village in Allentown, a high-rise community that, by her own admission, didn't have the same curb appeal. But the moment she walked through the doors, something shifted.
"I walked into Westminster Village, Allentown… the people there were just so wonderful," she recalls. "The minute I walked in, I felt like I was at home. Like I belonged."
Both communities offered her a position on the same day. The other opportunity came with more money and a shorter commute. Antegone chose PSL anyway. "I chose Allentown not because of the money, not because of anything, but because when I walked in, I felt like I belonged."
That instinct has never steered her wrong. "I think PSL is the nicest place to work for," she says. "I don't know why anybody would want to work for anybody else. And I mean that sincerely."
Antegone joined PSL in 2009 as the Assistant Director of Nursing at Westminster Village Allentown. Within months, she was promoted to Director of Nursing, a role she held until around 2015-2016, when she stepped into her current position as Extended Care Services Support Manager.
"I moved really fast," she says. "I'm pretty proud of myself."
She has every reason to be. Her rise from agency nurse to a system-level leadership role overseeing six PSL communities is a testament to her clinical expertise, her organizational instincts, and her deep commitment to the people she serves.
In her current role, Antegone supports Directors of Nursing and Assistant Directors of Nursing across six PSL communities, ensuring regulatory compliance, building strong processes, and perhaps most importantly, being a steady, trusted presence for the leaders she mentors.
"One girl actually always calls me her safe space," Antegone shares warmly. "She feels like when I walk through the door, she can just tell me anything."
It's a role she takes seriously. Antegone describes herself as the "mom DON." The person her team calls when they need guidance, reassurance, or simply someone to think through a problem with. "They call and I go, 'Yes, no, maybe — why don't we try this?' and kind of maneuver it like that."
She also leads by example in the most literal sense. "I wear a nursing uniform every day to work, even though I'm extended care," she says. "I've never lost that knowing how hard it is to be a nurse or knowing how hard it is to be an aide. When you walk into that room, you have to have that smile on your face. Hey, how's your day? I'm here to help you."
One of Antegone's most deeply held beliefs and the advice she gives most freely to the nurses and directors she mentors is deceptively simple: ask.
"Be patient with yourself," she says. "But don't be afraid to ask. Don't be afraid to ask and fail. Not asking is failing. But asking, and maybe not doing it right, that's okay, because that's what you learn from."
It's a philosophy born from her own experience. Early in her career at PSL, she leaned heavily on her mentor, Executive Director Nancy Bullivant, who modeled the kind of leadership Antegone would one day embody herself. "I could ask Nancy anything," she recalls. "She would say, 'Okay, have a seat and tell me what's wrong.' And we would just troubleshoot. But what she was actually doing was leading me to that right answer."
Today, Antegone pays that gift forward every day. "I tell the DONs that I mentor now: ask me anything. It's better to ask than not to ask, because you're not learning anything. And you only learn when you fail. Once you have the leadership piece, holding people accountable and teaching others, then you have it all."
When asked what she hopes people remember most about her contributions, Antegone doesn't hesitate but her answer might surprise you. Yes, she's proud of her clinical leadership. Yes, she's proud of the teams she's built and the directors she's mentored. But her greatest legacy, she says, is her children.
"My biggest legacy is my children," she says. "My daughter was a finance major who stopped and became a nurse because she wanted to love her job as much as mom loved hers. Because when I would come home from work, it's not a job or a career for me. It's a passion and my children can see that."
That passion, she believes, is the most important thing anyone can bring to this work. "When you love what you do as much as I do, it's not a job, it's not a career. It's just like it's part of you. So you have to find your space. You have to find what you love to do, so it doesn't even feel like you're working. I don't ever feel like I'm working because I just love what I do."