Jeopardy star Amy Schneider stopped by The View today, where she revealed her journey to game show champion and the challenges she faced along the way.

Schneider — who won 40 consecutive games on Jeopardy between November 2021 and January 2022 — made history as Jeopardy‘s first openly transgender contestant to qualify for the Tournament of Champions. But, as she revealed on this morning’s episode of The View, it wasn’t always an easy path to get to where she is now.

When Whoopi Goldberg asked her guest, “What gave you the strength to put everything out there?” Schneider replied, “I’ve always been kind of an open, transparent person.”

Schneider, who recently published her memoir In the Form of a Question: The Joys and Rewards of a Curious Life, added, “I became, to a lot of people, sort of the first trans person that they had kind of gotten to know on television. I was hearing that from so many people, and I felt a responsibility to give the full portrait of myself and not just what fits into a 10-second anecdote on Jeopardy.”

Later in the segment, Schneider detailed her multiple attempts to join Jeopardy before finally being cast. Prior to her historic win last year, Schneider had auditioned for years without luck. After Sara Haines pointed out that Schneider had auditioned over the span of 15 years, she clarified, “It was over 15 years, but not in a row because when I came out as trans, I stopped for a year or two.”

She explained, “It just, it seemed so dangerous in a way, at that point,” as Joy Behar told her, “It probably was. It’s still a little dangerous.”

Schneider replied, “Yeah, and that was still something, even when I did decide to go back, I made the decision: this has been my life-long dream. I’m not going to let people take it away from me. And so I went ahead with it, but … there was some apprehension there because I’ve seen what can happen when trans people become a target.”

She continued, “Not that nothing like that happened to me, not that nothing was said, but the overwhelming reaction has been so positive that it’s been easy to ignore the negative.”

During her time on Jeopardy, Schneider won $1.6 million and established herself as the most successful woman and transgender contestant to ever appear on the show.

The View airs weekdays at 11/10c on ABC. Jeopardy airs weeknights at 7/6c. Check local listings on the Jeopardy website.