You cannot and will not become independent by asking permission.
You will not get people to help you unless they can see you have some momentum going already. No one jumps on a bandwagon that's not moving. It's like choosing a team to cheer for (aside from hometown allegiances): Who picks a losing team to attach themselves to? No one. We pick teams that win, so we can feel like winners.
You do not become powerful by power being handed to you. Power is seized by force. And if power ever is handed to you, you won't have it long: the truly powerful will come for it and take it from you.
Exposure and recognition is not handed out. It is created. Right where you are. There is not some exposure bubble waiting for you to jump into it. Exposure means people paying attention to what you're doing. What are you doing??? If you can't answer -- in a way that would draw my attention -- that explains why you don't have the exposure.
The things you want are not the type of things that get handed out for free. You have to go and get them.
#WorkOnYourGame