Hello and welcome jbellard03.
Just getting started, this is what I’d do. Read this forum, cover to cover, in your spare time. The New Mystery Shopper section is a good place to start. Sign up with JobSlinger, the free site, to find shops in your area. If interested in them, apply with the listed mystery shopping providers. After you’ve been accepted by the mystery shopping providers, you can search and apply for shops from their job boards. There are hundreds of MSPs and there’s no way to know, in advance of signing up with them if they offer shops where you live. That’s a time consuming and ongoing process for all shoppers. Keep records of the MSPs you sign with. Two MSPs that are known to have shops nationwide are Market Force International (MF) and Corporate Research International (CoRI or Corpri). They are good starter MSPs.
Read everything carefully. Don’t pay any money to shop. There’s no reason for a new shopper to pay money for any certifications. Open a free email account to be used solely for mystery shopping. Gmail, Hotmail, etc. Don't buy any electronics to start with.
Go get em.