...Where there's will there's a way...

Here's a true story:

A piano teacher with full grade 8 certificate for both performance and theory was asked to play a song during a jazz workshop. Showed great fingering skills but sounded mechanical. Just hand claps.

A guy who self taught playing keyboard and later piano in his late 20s was also asked to play a song. Ooh, aahs and hand claps. The facilitator commented "now, here's an example of how a 'pro' sounds like when playing with feelings..."

IMHO :
The listener(s) don't really care if the player is a grade 8 holder, started at a very young age or whatever. As long as the listener(s) can connect and feel the song presented by the player, he/she is a 'pro'.