GO for it!
I can only share my own experience - I started my airline career at 30 and was a check and training captain on a jet by the time I was 40. I'm just about to head off to a Chief Pilot position in a Euro jet operator - and I'm nothing special. Anything is possible if you have the ability to press on in the face of many disappointments, and the see the prize at the end of the journey.
BTW one of the really, really special things about being a senior trainer or chief pilot, is that you get to give guys like yourself their break in aviation. it has been a real privilege, and not one of those guys has disappointed me. The path to getting in front of the guy who can hire you, though, is mostly up to you.
I'm curious though, as to why you couldn't get a job in Europe? There is a serious shortage developing of qualified guys over there. The company I am going to next is having major problems finding recruits.