How much privacy would I have to sacrifice to monetize my art?

\[This is actually a very specific problem, so I will make a somewhat long explanation, please be patient\]

Well, I'm an artist and I've been working with illustrations for almost 3 years, but since I got my current job by recommendation I never really cared about things like creating a portfolio or creating an artist name for myself on social media.

However, an older colleague insists that these things are very important for an artist to grow in an area …

art artist current job privacy problem sacrifice things working