FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – India Callahan, an apparel merchandising and product development master's degree student at the University of Arkansas, recently attended the national Women in Toys Conference as an invited guest in Dallas where she was recognized as a scholarship recipient.

The conference was held in conjunction with the Toy Association Fall Toy Preview week at the Dallas World Trade Center. Callahan, who is from Dumas, was honored as a 2017 recipient of a Women in Toys Foundation Inc. scholarship.

"Attending the Women In Toys Conference was an amazing learning experience," said Callahan. "The room was filled with professionals who shared a plethora of knowledge that can easily be applied to future career and entrepreneurial endeavors. From the moment Dr. (Kathy) Smith and I arrived in Dallas, we felt welcome and were greeted with warm smiles, handshakes and hugs. I look forward to sharing knowledge I've learned with other students in order to get them excited about the endless opportunities within the apparel merchandising and product development concentration."

The WIT Foundation honors achievements of women studying in fields of toy design, engineering, entrepreneurship and business with the purpose of highlighting students in toy-related careers.

Callahan received a scholarship for $2,500. She was nominated by apparel merchandising and product development faculty in the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Science's School of Human Environmental Sciences.

"This opportunity allowed us to network with not only buyers and suppliers in the toy industry, but business professionals offering expertise during 15 minute one-on-one info sessions that included advice on advertising, branding, licensing, online, product development, small business development and women in business," said Smith, clinical associate professor of apparel merchandise and product development. "Inventors of toy products were given the opportunity to 'pitch' their product to Walmart buyers and toy company executives in one-on-one 'shark tank' presentations. The level of empowerment experienced in this conference was seen and felt by all in attendance."   

Callahan's accomplishments include creating and designing one of 12 outfits by students selected by Walmart to be sold with its My Life As dolls. Her hip-hop dance costume features harem trousers and a pink mesh hoodie-tank.

"I am so grateful for the relationship our program has with Walmart and for the amazing women of the Women In Toys Foundation," said Callahan. "Thanks to this financial blessing, I was able to successfully complete my undergraduate degree and transition into graduate school."

Callahan is working as a graduate teaching assistant in the Computer Based Methods for Apparel class, the class she was in when she created her My Life As doll outfit.

About the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences: Bumpers College provides life-changing opportunities to position and prepare graduates who will be leaders in the businesses associated with foods, family, the environment, agriculture, sustainability and human quality of life; and who will be first-choice candidates of employers looking for leaders, innovators, policy makers and entrepreneurs. The college is named for Dale Bumpers, former Arkansas governor and longtime U.S. senator who made the state prominent in national and international agriculture.

About the University of Arkansas: The University of Arkansas provides an internationally competitive education for undergraduate and graduate students in more than 200 academic programs. The university contributes new knowledge, economic development, basic and applied research, and creative activity while also providing service to academic and professional disciplines. The Carnegie Foundation classifies the University of Arkansas among only 2 percent of universities in America that have the highest level of research activity. U.S. News & World Report ranks the University of Arkansas among its top American public research universities. Founded in 1871, the University of Arkansas comprises 10 colleges and schools and maintains a low student-to-faculty ratio that promotes personal attention and close mentoring.