Merriam-Webster's dictionary defines a mogul as "a great personage or magnate." Rapper Diddy (formerly P. Diddy) and Ice Cube are two of the few superstar entertainers who have also earned recognition as successful multimedia moguls. Now you can add actor-singer-comic Nick Cannon to that list.

The 25-year-old Cannon has quickly become a one-man entertainment empire by producing and starring in MTV's popular "Wild 'N Out" improv comedy show, recording a hit rap single from his upcoming solo album "Stages" and launching his own record label Can I Ball Records. He stars in three soon-to-be released films this year, including "Bobby," featuring Demi Moore and Lindsay Lohan. Cannon also owns the multimillion dollar PNB Nation clothing line.

As a teenager Cannon started his career doing stand up-comedy and soon landed a role in the Nickelodeon kids comedy sketch show "All That." Next, he went on to create and produce the network's award-winning "The Nick Cannon Show." His film acting career took off in 2002 after earning critical acclaim for his role in "Drumline." He followed that up in 2003 by testing his rapping skills with a self-titled debut album.

Cannon lists time management as his biggest challenge nowadays. The busy performer must juggle his many ventures while still finding time to fit in special events such as a national search for a female co-star for his next music video.

YOUNG MONEY caught up with the fast-rising star for an exclusive interview during a promotional stop in Detroit.

WHEN DID YOU REALIZE THAT SHOW BUSINESS IS WHAT YOU WANTED TO DO FOR A LIVING? When I was in kindergarten. All the other kids during sharing time would bring in their pets and share stuff like rock collections. We didn't have enough money to share anything, so I would get up in front of the class and share jokes and rap and stuff like that. That was when I said, "Alright, this is what I want to do with my entire life."

DID YOU HAVE A ROLE MODEL OR MENTOR GUIDING YOUR CAREER? Not really. This was just something that I really wanted to do. Nobody else in my family was an entertainer. I come from a family of ministers. There were always [family members] speaking in front of people but never any entertainers. As far as people in the entertainment industry that I looked up to [music producer] Quincy Jones was definitely someone that I wanted to pattern my life after.

WHAT WAS THE BEST PIECE OF CAREER ADVICE ANYONE EVER GAVE YOU?

I think [actor/rapper] Will Smith gave me the best advice. He said, "Never do anything that you don't want to do. Always go with your gut and creatively go with what you the artist are excited about doing because if you do somebody else's vision, then you're going to be extremely upset. But if you do your vision, then it doesn't work out at least you can say, 'Well, I did it my way.'"

WHICH ASPECT OF YOUR JOB GIVES YOU THE MOST SATISFACTION: PERFORMING OR CUTTING BUSINESS DEALS? I love the business side more than anything just because that's my nature. I love the creativity behind the business side - marketing, understanding how to pull things together, introducing new artists to the game, new sounds and new television concepts. That's where I really get excited and try to take advantage of those opportunities.

HOW DID YOU LEARN ABOUT HANDLING THE BUSINESS SIDE OF THE INDUSTRY? It was pretty much a learn-on-the job thing. I was doing stand-up comedy in my teens. I was writing television shows when I was 17 so I was around the behind-the-scenes element more than I was around the other stuff. I just watched how it all worked. I learned how to write scripts and treatments. I learned about marketing. I always had a knack for business. The entertainment industry was something that I was in since I was so young that I just got the gist of it [over time].

WHAT MADE YOU DECIDE TO BRANCH OUT INTO THE BUSINESS SIDE OF THE INDUSTRY BEYOND JUST PERFORMING? It happened gradually. I started off as a stand-up comic so that means you're your own business, your own brand, your own show. You produce the show every night. Nobody else helps you. You write it. You get up there and you perform it. You market yourself. You make your own flier, your own business card. It's a hustle. Then later I started my own television production company. I was producing a show on Nickelodeon at 19. So it's just something that gradually happened. It wasn't like "Oh, now I want to get into the business world." It was more like "This is the next step you have to take if you want to do things your way."

WHAT IS THE BIGGEST WAY IN WHICH SUCCESS HAS CHANGED YOUR LIFE? It just makes you more hungry. You get a taste of it and you just want to reach [the next] level. I want to work even harder and figure out how I can do this or that. I love challenges so it just makes me look for the next challenge. It makes me think that things that people claim are impossible to do aren't really that impossible.

YOU GET THE CHANCE TO SPEAK TO YOUNG PEOPLE ALL OVER THE COUNTRY. DO THEY EVER COME TO YOU FOR ADVICE? Yeah. I would tell them that if I can do it, then they can definitely do it. I tell them that it's all about self-motivation. That's the bottom line. People kept telling me all of my life that I couldn't do certain things, but I kept saying that I could. I believed in myself, in being my number one fan and being my number one salesman. It's important to be able to sell yourself and truly have faith in what you are and what you can do. Besides being a self-motivator, you really have to be a self-generator. You can't wait on somebody else to give you an opportunity. If you want to be a rapper, put your own CD out. If you want to be an actor, go produce your own play. If you want to be a writer, go produce your own magazine. Just do it yourself.

SO WHAT'S AHEAD FOR YOU? My goals are to continue to produce more things--continuing to produce more things in my empire as a mogul. The foundation is set. Now I just need to build on top of it. I need my record label to be extremely successful. I need my television production to be successful along with the clothing line. [I just want to] build on that from here on out.

© 2008, Young Money Media, LLC. All rights reserved.