MIAMI, Fla.–A chance meeting as Uber passengers between Vince Smith and DeCue King turned into a business partnership of a lifetime.

Smith and King, all around athletes in football, mixed martial arts, basketball, baseball, wrestling, boxing and weightlifting, recently opened up Key Biscayne Fitness, a one-story, 800-square feet facility with exercising equipment to keep clients in tip-top shape.

The fitness center, 660 Crandon Boulevard, is currently the only Black-owned business in Key Biscayne and second African-American company to open up shop in the island’s history, according to the Key Biscayne Chamber of Commerce

The fitness center offers training in weightlifting, intense physical exercises, mixed martial arts, boxing, youth development and coa therapy to strengthen mental health.

“HE SAID THE PANDEMIC WAS A SILVER LINING FOR HIM BECAUSE HE LOST HIS JOB AND MOVED TO MIAMI TO START A NEW LIFE.”

Smith, a former college football running back who has an affinity for sculpting his body, is among 0.3 percent Blacks who live in Key Biscayne, while 74 percent are Hispanics and 66 percent Whites, according to the 2020 U.S. Census.

After training people via Zoom during the COVID-19 pandemic, Smith decided to open the facility with King, who lives in Brickell.

Before he moved to South Florida, Smith, 39, said he was a valet parking attendant in Georgia and frequently exercised to stay fit.

He said the pandemic was a silver lining for him because he lost his job and moved to

Miami to start a new life.

While working out one day, Smith didn’t realize training people was his true calling after training his sister via zoom.

As a result, she lost 30 pounds.

"That’s when it clicked and I said to myself ‘this is what I’m meant to do.’ It brings him so much joy helping others become a better version of themselves inside and out," he said.

Smith started training people on his patio but the space wasn’t enough to accommodate his growing clients and sought a bigger location.

Riding with King, 36, in Uber who was a stranger, the two realized they have an affinity for fitness and training people to help them reach the pinnacle of mental and physical health.

King said after he crashed his motorcycle and suffered an acute concession and a seizure, he struggled to work out but Smith got him going again.

"When I met Vince, I hadn’t worked out in five months," King said. "He tried to get me back to normal and we talked about opening the center together."

Another tragedy in King’s life sparked his passion for exercising and competing in boxing and martial arts competitions.

King, who grew up in Boston, was shot there when he was 20-years-old, a robbery victim whose life changed after the incident.

Though he survived the attack, King said he had to learn how to walk again and doctors told him he would never play sports again.

He proved them wrong.

After months of rigorous therapy and rehabilitation, King was walking on his own again and began taking mixed martial arts and other self defense classes to be prepared if he encountered another armed robber.

"The shooting made me want to take martial arts and boxing to gain self-confidence and fight off attackers," he said.

King said was an amatuer boxer for eight years and then competed in mixed-martial arts competitions including in Thailand.

He said he trains some of the kids he trains at the fitness center are the same children he currently coaches in flag football and basketball in Key Biscayne.

King said he also trained amateur boxers who just turned pro.

"I work with a lot of the kids in Key Biscayne, some I coach and they are excited and thrilled to be learning at the center," he said.