USC singer Mia Hartounian, known by her stage name Mia Hart, has it all figured out. 

The 21-year-old senior majoring in business administration and minoring in songwriting vision-boarded her life at the age of just 16. So far, everything on that board has come to pass.

“Every single thing on that vision board has come true, down to USC, down to American Idol, down to my summer internship at Capitol Records,” Hart said. “A lot of people expect to put something on a board, and they think it’ll come true, but if you’re not reaching out and putting good energy out there, you can’t expect it to come back to you.”

While the Milwaukee-native’s aspirations have long been ambitious, Hart’s journey is rooted in humility. She began her career singing casually in youth theater programs, and music has been a staple in her life since she was young.

“There’s so many videos of me as a kid in the backseat, just making up words with the melodies of songs, like Christmas songs or just things out here on the radio, and changing all the words,” Hart said.

Once she turned 16, Hart said she started taking her singing more seriously, investing more time into honing her craft and developing her own sound, which culminated in an opportunity to try out for American Idol in 2021.

“I auditioned in Los Angeles at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel for Katy Perry, Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan, and I sang an Adele song. I got three no’s,” Hart said. “All the judges were like, you’re not ready yet.”

That moment kick-started Hart’s career in music, as both a singer and businesswoman. She said she made her vision board after her rejection and diversified her repertoire as an artist, learning the piano and studying song composition.  

Hart’s initiative eventually paid off. A cold email to the Milwaukee Brewers and Milwaukee Bucks landed her opportunities to sing the national anthem for both teams. Eventually, she fought her way back to American Idol. At 19, she got another opportunity to perform for the same trio — a full-circle moment for her, even if she didn’t make it. 

“I went and put in the work. [Now], three years later, I came back, and it was like, ‘you’re on the right track. You’re doing the right thing,’” Hart said.

Hart said she takes inspiration from pop’s most soulful women artists, citing Adele, Amy Winehouse and Yebba. On Hart’s Instagram profile, listeners will find original songs and covers of fresh hits, such as Kehlani’s “Folded,” Olivia Dean’s “Man I Need,” and SZA and Kendrick Lamar’s “All the Stars.”

“I loved the pop girls that were able to hear the story and the soul through their storytelling and their songwriting,” Hart said. 

Recently, Hart has taken even greater strides. She secured more national anthem gigs with USC Athletics and the L.A. Clippers, and has launched her own independent music career. 

Hart released her first single, “LOVESICK,” last July and has been performing it alongside covers and unreleased originals in venues across Los Angeles.

Hart released her second single, “LOST MY MIND,” on Friday with the assistance of USC alumni Henry Cikanek and Jack Monk, as well as Issac Oceantola — the three minds behind production trio “Prodigal Sons.”

Cikanek said while Hart’s talent as a singer is obvious, what truly impressed him was her lyricism and compositional skills.

“There’s a lot of good singers, but what she’s really good at is she writes songs that actually say something. There’s actually a story to it. It’s not just nonsensical,” Cikanek said. “She has substance. The lyrics were [imaginative] from the jump.”

Monk also complemented Hart’s musical creativity and her ability to quickly identify a good sound.

“She just had [LOST MY MIND’s] melody already, and she started kind of like freestyling out some melodies, and then just wrote it,” Monk said.

Hart said she’s also working toward releasing her first EP, which she wants to be tonally deep and have some of the “gut-wrenching songs” she grew up admiring. She said she also doesn’t want to give up on building a potential career as both an artist and businesswoman in the industry.

As her career opportunities grow, Hart said she will remain grounded in authenticity, even in the high-octane, fast-paced environment of the L.A. music industry, which she said can be easy to lose oneself in.

“I’m definitely not at the height of my career, but I’m laying down the pieces to get there,” Hart said. “That mindset is everything, and I have a positive mindset with music going forward and really just being honest and truthful with what I put out.”