@mmarco Hey friend. Not going to hate but I think the main disconnect from your story and many others is that you had a passion and drive to do what you wanted to do that is not really common among the general population.
In your stories you talk about going up to potential customers and hinted at making multiple friends so you're socially adept enough to interact with and maintain clients. You also demonstrate being willing to invest time and energy beyond the point of discomfort and to use your own leisure time growing your skills. To be honest that alone is more than a lot of people can do WITH financial knowledge or business experience.
Unfortunately for a lot of people the issues leading to them not developing said skills are usually fundamental to that person and not necessarily going to change. That's not meant to be mean. Most people don't want to do anything more than they need to and most people enjoy chilling more than grinding and honestly that's better for more serious entrepreneurs.
So my point is that you already had a strong sense of a skill and determination that someone wouldn't need education to learn, because it's mostly someone you either develop or don't for most people. As a result I think the college/teachers element is irrelevant. I'd say in your case you made a good call, but honestly people like you that would be the outlier are probably not on here, they're probably working on their brand or business. Much like you were