Donald Trump called her "one of the most beautiful women I’ve ever seen" and hand-picked her for his show, "The Apprentice" — a tough, business-savvy reality show.

Now, say her friends, it’s up to Jennifer Murphy of Medford to prove there are brains behind the beauty.

Picked from thousands auditioning for the popular NBC show, Murphy, 26, joined 17 other contestants to team-solve challenging and sometimes loopy obstacles that might confront your average top- drawer management team. After evaluations, one person each week is "fired" by Trump.

"The Apprentice" shows, which are already taped, will start airing at 9 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 22.

NBC imposes a gag order on contestants, but family and friends described Murphy, last year’s Miss Oregon USA, as bright and driven in the extreme, someone going places that can’t be gotten to with just a pretty face.

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"It’s absolutely a huge break," said friend Stephanie Farrell of Phoenix, who is the mother of former Miss Teen USA, Tami Farrell. "She’s very driven and wants to be successful on her own accomplishments. So many people will stereotype a beautiful blonde, but this is the first time people will see beyond the beauty to the substance."

Murphy’s aunt, Bridget Oman of Eagle Point, said Murphy "comes from a good Catholic family of 12 children," all of whom were home-schooled by parents Pat and Jo Murphy of Rogue River. She’s the second oldest.

"Jennifer is very bright, smart and ambitious," said Oman, "and we are all very anxious to see how NBC is going to portray her. We hope the real Jennifer will show on TV. We love her and hope this takes her places she never dreamed of going."

Murphy studied business and marketing at Rogue Community College and Southern Oregon University. She worked in sales at Qwest Dex in Medford, where, in her first year, she won the President’s Circle of Excellence Award for top sales performance, according to her biography on the NBC web site.

At 23, Murphy became the youngest international advertising manager in Phone Directories Company. She managed new sales teams and was named manager of the year. She is a volunteer with Junior Achievement, teaching young people how to succeed in business.

A New York Times story on Aug. 31 said show host and executive producer Trump went against the choice of his producers, who had nixed Murphy, saying she was too beautiful and would lack credibility.

The Times quoted Trump as saying, "They said she was too beautiful. I said, ‘Excuse me, there is no such thing as too beautiful.’ They said, ‘Donald, she’s so beautiful, she’s not credible.’ I said, ‘No. 1, she happens to be smart. No. 2, she’s very beautiful — congratulations, she’s going on the show.’"

Farrell, who worked with Murphy in pageants here, said Trump met Murphy in the Miss USA contest, congratulating her after she failed to make the final cuts. "He went to her after the crowning and said he was very impressed with her, that she was a wonderful young woman and the thought she was going far," said Farrell. "She realized there was more out there that she wanted to do."

Murphy taped the shows over six weeks this summer and, friends say, has hired an agent and image consultant and will remain living in Southern California.

John Darling is a freelance writer living in Ashland. E-mail him at jdarling@jeffnet.org.