Four questions to an agent: Working with Donald Trump, and was that Mark Wahlberg?

In 2002, Senada Adzem helped a friend prepare a presentation on the viability of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, as a luxury destination.

The report ended up on the desks of senior executives working on real estate ventures for Donald Trump. They offered her a job marketing condo-hotel developments in New York and other markets, more than a decade before Trump would become president.

"I did work with President Trump, and it was a great experience working there," she told Homes.com. "It was the kind of role that pushed me far beyond what I thought I was capable of. Every day demanded a mix of strategic thinking, emotional intelligence and adaptability. It wasn’t easy, but that constant challenge was exactly what made the experience so fulfilling."

While she enjoyed the job, she wanted a change from the New York grind, so she left in 2006 to work for Blackstone Group, marketing the One Thousand Ocean luxury condo in Boca Raton, Florida. From there, she moved to Corcoran Group Real Estate and later Douglas Elliman, where she has worked for the past 14 years.

Adzem, the brokerage's director of luxury sales in South Florida, said she has sold more than $4 billion in real estate during her career.

One of her most recent transactions was the sale of 9200 Rockybrook Way in the Stone Creek Ranch development, located near Delray Beach, Florida, approximately 25 miles southwest of Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach. As the listing agent, Adzem declined to identify the buyer, but public records reveal it's a firm with ties to actor Mark Wahlberg.

While the multiple listing service shows a sales price of $37 million, the 17,797-square-foot waterfront home actually sold for $32.6 million, with the parties agreeing to include personal belongings in a separate deal for $4.4 million, according to Adzem and Palm Beach County property records.

The October transaction was the fourth time she has sold the seven-bedroom estate since 2020.

Adzem's South Florida real estate career is a world away from her upbringing in the former Yugoslavia. Swept up in the Bosnian War of 1992, she and seven family members huddled in a two-bedroom apartment and later fled to a makeshift shelter to avoid bombs and mortars. She witnessed death and faced serious danger herself multiple times.

"There were moments where death felt inches away but somehow, you keep going," Adzem said. "That confrontation with fragility, realizing how thin the line of life and death can be, changed my outlook entirely."

During the war, she worked for the U.S. Embassy in Sarajevo and also served as an interpreter for the United Nations. She later earned a scholarship to Graceland University in Lamoni, Iowa, where she double-majored in business and international relations before moving to New York to take a job at a Swiss venture capital firm. That led to a career in real estate.

Adzem enjoys real estate because it challenges her analytical and creative sides, allowing her to form meaningful personal connections. "I found my life's calling," she said.

The following interview has been edited for length and clarity.

"Living through war leaves marks you don’t fully understand until much later. At first, it’s about surviving one day to the next and staying alive. But over time, you begin to see how those experiences shape your instincts and your sense of purpose."

"It's a single-family home in east Boca Raton. It has a contemporary, Spanish, Colonial look. I like character in homes, with beautiful landscaping, Cypress trees and bougainvillea. It's not just a house; it really is a home and a sanctuary."

"My outdoor space. The reason I love it is, we are truly blessed to be able to enjoy winters down here. The weather is great, the sunshine. Coming from New York, I barely saw the light of day."

"My husband and I are big MMA [mixed martial arts] fans. I'm into Thai kickboxing. It's very empowering to know if someone messes with you, you can take care of yourself."