I would never have gotten further into mobile privacy if I’d have to buy a Pixel phone and then flash GrapheneOS onto it as my first step. I started with /e/OS, which enabled me to try flashing a ROM, which in honestly felt like reckless destructive behaviour at the time, on a cheap second hand phone.
I think that in groups like this, we are unable to imagine what something like that feels like to someone who has just bought Android phones all their life. Even switching files from Google to pCloud, which has quite a mainstream feel, felt like a big step for me.
This is why I liked having both forums and would love to see more. For me at the time, getting away from corporate oversight was something motivating. Learning about the relationship between privacy and security came years later, to be honest, and that was a good and natural progression in my experience.