First, see if you can get your friends to engage with a one-shot that you DM. You can knock it out in an afternoon and they’ll get a feel for it.

Second, find a local hobby store and see if they host a group you could join. Most places that sell D&D books also host games.

Third, check out Pathfinder. It’s a different TTRPG with many similarities to D&D, but with affordances for playing with a wide variety of people instead of a single tight group. Specifically, see if there is a “Pathfinder Society” in your area — that’s the overall structure they use to organize games and track character progression across games.