+1 to the advice everyone has given.
when I was finishing up grad school, I tried to make a stab at pro photography. I found no one cared what gear I shot with, no one wanted to buy prints, clients are difficult, and the clients I was exposed to wanted the universe for pennies onthe dollar. I’m just one person and that was only my experience, but I do not think it’s uncommon. Digital photography has flattened the learning curve and there is also a lot of competition, and it’s hard to distinguish yourself….and who knows what is going to happen with AI.
Like others, I’m also not saying don’t do it, but it’s tough out there. I ultimately came to the conclusion that dealing with clients took the fun out of photography and I realized I just wanted to keep doing it as a hobby. I ultimately went a different career path that also isn’t easy regarding clients and isn’t as enjoyable as photography, but it allows me to buy some nice gear that I can enjoy in my free time YMMV.
back to ops questions, if I were starting out today, I would not prioritize gear as a huge portion of my budget, and the budget I had for gear, I’d go on the low end - maybe even a generation or two old FF dSLR like a D810 and not even mirrorless to get a variety of lenses cheap.