Each year, VIP Alexandria Magazine accepts nominations and selects the newest class of Most Interesting Men. This year, VIP partnered with The Animal Welfare League of Alexandria. Each "gentleman" was photographed with an adoptable dog seeking its forever home. We are proud to announce that all dogs featured in VIP have been adopted. Special thank you to our 2023 class of Most Interesting Men for helping us support this amazing charity!
Story by LIESEL SCHMIDT | Photography by JONATHAN THORPE | Benefitting the ANIMAL WELFARE LEAUGE OF ALEXANDRIA | Sponsored by TING
As the owner and GM of Patrick’s Painting & Home Improvement Services, Patrick Coye employs crews working all over NOVA, completing residential painting services such as interior and exterior painting, drywall repairs, carpentry, deck and fence pressure washing and staining, kitchen cabinetry painting and wallpaper installation and removal. Coye himself is a contractor, though he is no longer out in the field. Still, he enjoys the uniqueness of each job. “It keeps me on my toes,” he says.
Keeping on his toes is something Coye does as a rule, being a former boxer with 24 amateur fights and one professional match under his belt. “I didn't think I could take it to a world championship level, so why risk the shots to my head when I needed my brain? My 80-year-old self will thank me later,” Coye jokes. “I’m sure I could have taken my boxing career further if I’d had the right vision and guidance. Now, I try to share my experiences with younger fighters so they don't make the same mistakes I made. I still go to the boxing gym a few times a month to keep my arsenal sharp and love hitting the pads. It's not just a physical workout for me, but also a mental one. Correlating numbers in combinations with specific types of punches isn't easy.”
Born in New York and raised in Alexandria, Coye is someone who loves the challenge of testing his limits and recently got into triathlons. “In 2022, I completed four sprint distance triathlons and one Olympic distance,” he notes. “In 2023, I'm taking a step up and signed up for six Olympic distance tris and the Marine Corps Marathon. I've never run more than 10 miles before, but I really enjoy working out and have realized that I’m at my best professionally when I’m at my best personally.”
BOOK ON HIS NIGHTSTAND...
"Atomic Habits by James Clear. It’s definitely one of my favorites and I’ve read it three times. It's all about our daily habits and routines and creating small, life-enhancing habitats that might not look like they are having an effect but, as we layer them on, they compound, and the effect is life-changing."