Seeking advice on transition from CX to UX

Hi everyone,After years of working in Client Success, I am committed to making a transition to UX Research. I have taken a few Coursera courses, GA workshops and I do have some hands-on experience conducting product calls, user testing, and affinity mapping, but don't necessarily feel like I would be able to get a job at a different org and my current company is in a "hiring freeze" which is frustrating. If anybody has made this transition, how did you do it? What did you find the most challenging part of the transition to be? What was your starting salary?If you have 15 to 20 minutes to chat, I would love to learn about your journey. Thank you!- Fatima