It might be that it's harder on average for the lower/lower-middle-income worker to work their way to the top in, but it may be also the case that the Internet

It might be that it's harder on average for the lower/lower-middle-income worker to work their way to the top in, but it may be also the case that the Internet and social networks (even amid the saturation of professional influencers and their ilk) provide opportunities for the lower-rung to get sudden and prominent recognition, albeit not from their own workplaces.