I posted another thread trying to accomplish this with the Joomla native category blog layout here -
https://techjoomla.com/forums/question/how-to-call-category-blog-view-in-q2c-component-category-view
HOWEVER, I think this would be easier to accomplish if I can just call q2c product category to be loaded on the normal component page view. The overall goal would be to load up to a 3 or 4 column layout to show the image and title of each category/subcategory prior to the section where products are loaded. Obviously, category/subcategory images and titles should be linked to their children.
I created a graphic to better explain.
If this is currently not possible, can someone point me towards the files that I should hack to be able to accomplish this? I am a learning developer and do not mind hacking the files necessary to accomplish this and sharing them with everyone. I just need to know what the exact files I should be altering.