Uploaded May 2018 | Updated September 2026, 2 hours ago

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Founding Stories - GRIT: The Strength to Overcome Adversity at the 2018 Tom Tom Founders Festival

A Dallas Cowboy and NASA astronaut, Melvin has achieved what few aspire to in a lifetime – and has overcome more than most, from an injury that left him temporarily deaf to a sexual assault in childhood. Learn where he has found the resilience to do the impossible.

Speaker: Leland Melvin, Leland Melvin LLC, Astronaut

Sponsors: UVA McIntire School of Commerce Galant Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship and the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation

tomtomfest.com/founding-stories