every higher-up at every publishing/management company is a bunch of gatekeepy fucking snobs who have no idea what they're talking about.
you could easily do their job yourself, and do it infinitely better than them. i guarantee you you'll be better off for it.
in case anyone wonders why i talk about this so much, it's because no one ever tells you about it. they want you to take every success story at face value, god forbid you see what goes on behind the thin veil.
what's done in the dark will eventually be brought to light.