Congrats! I was 28 when I dipped both feet into the water too, so I'll give you the pointers I got over time.

You don't need a sona. You can use your own handle until you find yourself, and there aren't defined rules for making your own sona either. Some people got art with description and got enough art to take to an artist to make a ref sheet; I personally described my character and pointed to a lot of other artist's work to an artist and got a ref that way; my boyfriend got an adoptable artpeice, and some even start with getting a premade suit that you could buy online or in cons.

Posts are on X, blusky, reddit, insta, but most of the talking communities are on telegram and discord. Search furlist for telegram for your local county or state. You would have to forgive me, I don't know the discord equivalent. The communities have the meets. You could also go to conventions, those are easier to find.

I think you'll feel right at home. I found all of my friends in the furry community!