Pivoting from data-entry clerk to something new - what worked for you?

After 17 years as a data-entry clerk I am thinking about moving into a different field. I have read a lot of threads here and could not find my exact situation. I have good customer skills and I am comfortable with spreadsheets. Did you take a pay cut?

I took a small pay cut for a year, and it was worth it for the growth afterwards.

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