Don’t know if you have found the answer yet, but here goes. I don’t live in Houston or Texas for that matter but you really aren’t going to get an answer to your question on here. That’s because the person you are looking for isn’t looking on here for a someone to mentor. Look on Brokercheck for 25 miles of your zip. Find a name of an Indpendent firm that comes up the most (i.e. LPL, Cadaret). Once you have that, narrow your search to only those reps, click on each and find out how long they have been in the business. You are looking for someone with 20+ years and no disclosures on their U4s. Once you have that list, email each and introduce yourself. Ask if you can buy them a cup of coffee and that you would like to pick their brains to see if going independent is right for you.
You are really just trying to get in front of them to allow them to “interview” you without them knowing that they are doing it. You want to steer the conversation into succession planning. Thank them for there time and wait. You will probably get a call in less then a week.
This is what I did and I met with 5 Independents, within the week I had 3 job offers to buy their books. I picked the biggest one and called it a day! Good luck!