ABOUT
ACTIVATE
STRENGTH BALANCE PREVENTION
OUR FACILITY
DARCY GOULD
MS, MSCC, CSCS
Strength and conditioning coach,
co-owner and co-founder of Activate
With many years of experience as a strength and conditioning coach, I’ve worked with thousands of athletes and individuals, each with big goals for themselves and/or their team. Whether they’re shooting for a personal record, a college roster spot, a Division I championship, or an Olympic medal, it’s my mission to help them get the most out of themselves.
I started at Boston University in 2004 as an assistant strength and conditioning coach and was promoted to associate head coach in 2014. I was in charge of training the women's ice hockey team when it launched in 2005. During my tenure, the team earned five Hockey East titles, six NCAA tournament appearances, two Frozen Four appearances, and two National Championship appearances.
I’ve also trained NCAA Division I athletes in women’s softball, lacrosse, lightweight rowing, volleyball, field hockey, and gymnastics; men’s ice hockey and football; and men’s and women’s soccer, novice and varsity rowing, golf, tennis, cross country, and track and field. And it’s been a privilege to train many Olympic medalists and national team athletes from different countries in women's hockey, men's rowing and women’s field hockey.
I know the kind of commitment, drive and resilience required to take a passion as far as you can. I played basketball at San Francisco State University, where I earned my BS in Kinesiology in Exercise Science with an emphasis in Exercise Physiology. I went on to California State University, Sacramento, to get my MS in Kinesiology and Sports Performance with an Emphasis in Strength and Conditioning.
As a graduate student, I was responsible for 12 teams and competed in Olympic lifting for Team Sacramento, where I took seventh at the U.S. National Tournament in 2004. In 2008, I ran the 112th Boston Marathon after qualifying through the 2007 Baystate Marathon in Lowell, MA. I’ve also enjoyed participating in multiple sprint triathlons and half marathons over the years, and I’ve been known to play in old lady basketball leagues around the area.
I earned the Master Strength & Conditioning Coach certification (MSCC) from the Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Coaches Association (CSCCa) in 2017 and the Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist® (CSCS®) certification from the National Strength & Conditioning Association (NSCA) in 2003. I have held the USAW and ACSM certifications in the past.
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I live with my husband Alex and two amazing children, Kaden and Tylee, in Framingham, MA. I am truly blessed to have such loving people around me, including my business partner Gretchen. I continue to learn from her every day and could not be happier to join in this adventure with her.
GRETCHEN PAULSON
DPT
Physical Therapist,
co-owner and co-founder of Activate
I lead the physical therapy side of Activate. I’m here to not only help people rehab and work through injuries and imbalances, but to prehab—avoid injuries altogether—by assessing, understanding, and addressing weaknesses early. It takes half the time to prevent injuries as it does to rehabilitate them!
My physical therapy career goes back to third grade. That’s when the seed was planted, anyway. My family watched the movie Regarding Henry, and I was hooked at the power of helping people work through physical challenges. Fast forward to college, when I went straight into physical therapy as an undergrad and continued on to earn my doctorate from Simmons University in Boston.
From there, I became a contract physical therapist, spending three months at a time in one U.S. city before moving on to the next. In that time, I worked with every age group from geriatric to neonatal (even dogs!)—in all aspects of physical therapy, including acute, sub-acute, skilled nursing, outpatient, and home care.
After seven years, I shifted to full-time private home care. But to be able to provide the complete, personal care that I am committed to, I started my own physical therapy practice in 2015. And now, having launched Activate in 2020, we’ve taken it a step further by adding strength, conditioning, and nutrition coaching.
As a lifelong athlete, I’ve also been on the other side of physical therapy and know the ups and downs of training, injuries, and recovery. I have a black belt in karate and participated in multiple sports growing up, including soccer, basketball, gymnastics, and track and field. I rowed all through college and continued on training at the elite level for a number of years before retiring because of injury. I currently stay active by running, cycling, kettlebell, Pilates, and traditional strength training.
All of these experiences—the movie, sports played, my education, my own injuries, my career paths—have led me to the fundamental philosophy that physical therapy is more than a handful of hour-long sessions. It’s personal, hands-on, and attentive to the complete person, not just the part that’s in pain.
Beyond physical therapy, I am certified in kettlebell, Pilates, and dry needling. I service the greater Boston area, and now offer virtual sessions as well.