I also recommend that you attend some local real estate investment meetup groups.

Recommendation on how to find a honest,  agent in the Cleveland,Ohio area. 

Any help or recommendations would be greatly appreciated! 

I have recommendations for lenders and agents in the area that can help your journey as well.

The BiggerPockets community has excellent book recommendations, such as The Book on Rental Property Investing by Brandon Turner.

@Jacob HavlovickBigger Pockets is a great place to find a real estate tax accountant.A good real estate accountant can save you thousands of dollars by leveraging entity selection and formation, tax deductions, cost segregations, bonus depreciation and tax planning.I recommend finding an accountant who specializes in real estate taxation, business taxation, financial planning and tax planning.You may want to consider working with your accountant remotely to expand your options.I would also recommend looking for a accountant willing to work with you throughout the year.

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

If you can find practice tests, that is my recommendation - that is what I did after taking the required time component and did not have any issues passing the test. 

Any recommendations for starting strong would be appreciated. 

I don't recommend throwing the baby out with the bath water, and definitely make sure you understand the nature of the Mentor you choose.BP is a great resource to meet some amazing people.