How do I ask for an informational chat? after 12 years as a call-centre agent

I want to talk to people in a new field but I hate cold messages. I have read a lot of threads here and could not find my exact situation. I want advice, not a job directly. Did any turn into leads?

Thanks for writing this out. I went through something close to it last year, and it settled down once I kept a simple log of every call and form.