“A boy without a male role model or mentor is like an explorer without a map. It's just so hard to reach manhood,” celebrity businessman and philanthropist Steve Harvey told Yahoo Finance in a conversation on mentorship.

“And then on top of that, it becomes extremely difficult to turn yourself into something without mentorship,” he added.

The comedian credits his father as serving as a role model that allowed him to achieve success.

“This really became really pronounced for me at my father's funeral. And it was one of the most crushing moments of my life,” he said.

“I realized on that particular day that if it wasn't for this guy, that there's no way I'm sitting here today. I had already reached a measure of success. By then, I already had overcome a lot of major obstacles. And it was because of the mental attitude that he had instilled in me as a man and his mentorship and what he taught me about work ethic and the principles of manhood. And the number one thing was do what you say you're going to do,” said Harvey.

After his father’s passing Harvey created a foundation to help mentor young boys.

Harvey explained the program helped many young men, some of whom credit him with “changing their lives.”

In addition to mentors, Harvey said sponsors are “absolutely critical.”

“It's daunting in the workplace,” he said. “Corporate America is daunting for anybody of any color. But I think it's fair to say that when you add the element of your skin color to it, you've got some more hurdles.”

“And so not only do you need mentorship, you've got to have somebody who puts their hands on your shoulders and guides you through the maze,” Harvey added.

While the average American doesn’t like to admit the extra hurdles facing Black Americans, Harvey said, “that’s the way it is.”

“I've had to be more than my counterparts to get to where I am today. And I knew it,” he said, describing a situation when he asked for more money from an executive at the WB network when he starred on his eponymous sitcom, "The Steve Harvey Show."

“‘Buffy the Vampire,’ this little teenage girl, was making more money than me. But my ratings were higher than hers,” he said. “And I went to him and asked for the raise. And he simply told me. He said, ‘Listen, because you have a Black sitcom, you fit into the multicultural budgets of most companies. And they just don't pay as much.’ He said, ‘So you can have the same rating, but I can't pay you because your show doesn't bring in the same amount of dollars.’”