“My husband had cancer, and their family has a rare gene that many of them have had and passed away from before the appropriate research and science was done with it,” Walker says.
Stan’s cancer was detected early because of that research and new understanding of the inherited condition, while other relatives have benefited from medical trials and advances in treatment.
“My father-in-law passed away just over two years ago, and that was from cancer as well. But we were blessed to have him longer than what the original diagnosis was,” she says.
Lou and Stan Walker at the Aotearoa Music Awards. Photo / NZ Herald, Sylvie Whinray
“He was doing all of these different trials, which we believe really did give him a longer stay with us.”
Stan’s mother April has also faced breast cancer and had to have parts of her breasts removed.
“Death and cancer are such common things to be spoken about within our whānau, more so his whānau, because they’re the ones that have been affected with this gene,” she says.
For Walker, the reality of what that could mean for their young daughters hit hard after she was asked to be part of the campaign.
“I was sitting there, and I was like, ‘There’s a chance that they could get breast cancer,” she says.
“My husband has the gene. If it passes down through them, they’ve got a higher chance of getting breast cancer.”
It was a thought no parent wants to entertain, but when Walker was later asked to be an ambassador for Breast Cancer Cure, she says she had to allow herself to process it.
“I had to sit with that for a moment, and it was actually quite confronting. I felt like, ‘Wow, I need to do more research and really prepare myself for this without having too much fear around it’.”
Yet amid that emotional weight, she found something unexpected: a sense of purpose and strength in being proactive.
Rather than let a possible future consume her, Walker began thinking about what could be done today to help create a better future for her daughters and other New Zealand women.
Lou Walker in the Kiri Nathan hoodie.
“If they do inherit it, I hope and pray that we would catch anything early, and that the right research had been done, and more research had been done, and there had been more findings that could really help them in whatever their journey might look like.”
That belief is one reason she has thrown her support behind Breast Cancer Cure NZ’s annual Tees for a Cure campaign, which this year is its biggest yet.
The initiative has enlisted 26 New Zealand designers, including Trelise Cooper, Karen Walker, Kiri Nathan and Zambesi, to create limited-edition T-shirts, with proceeds funding breast cancer research in New Zealand. The campaign launches on October 1 with a five-day interactive exhibition called The Dressing Room at the New Zealand International Convention Centre in Auckland.
For Walker, one campaign detail stands out above all others.
“Other research done around the world is based on other countries, right? But this campaign, the funds go specifically to our wāhine, and I think that is just so awesome.”
Walker says supporting the Breast Cancer Foundation’s research feels less like charity and more like an investment in future generations of her family and others.
That mindset has given her a sense of strength when thinking about her children’s future.
“When we talk about it, like, ‘Okay, we’ve got to get them tested and then go with it’.”
But for now, she says, the family are focused on enjoying the present after years of navigating uncertainty.
Stan and Lou Walker with their three children. Photo / Supplied
“We try not to live our lives out of a place of fear,” Walker says. “Things are going to come, and we’re going to have to pivot, whatever that may look like. I’ve seen it with my husband and his journey with cancer.”
The couple also have an 8-year-old son, and alongside raising their young family, run Akiaki Limited, the business management and entertainment company they co-founded.
“I feel like our life is probably not too different to everybody else’s when it comes to parenting. We’re in the trenches,” Walker says, with a laugh.
Their days are packed with school drop-offs, business meetings, after-school activities and the endless parenting juggle.
Walker says they are working toward one shared goal.
“We’ve got a music label essentially, so we want to keep growing our music catalogue and growing Stan’s music, growing our wealth, whatever that may look like.
“I’d love to retire in our mid-40s and would love to buy a big piece of land, have our own marae and have all of our best friends living on it.
“That’s the goal – build our own marae, our own urupā, and have our own congregation of all of our best friends together.”
Amid the chaos of raising a family and building a music empire, Walker says over the past few years and with uncertain outcomes ahead, they have learned to treasure the small moments.
“I love when we’re all in bed, either before the kids go to bed or when they wake up in the morning, and they jump in our bed,” she says.
“It’s so nice. They’re just so little, and they’re just so lovely.”
Lou Walker wearing NomD.The Dressing Room exhibition is showing at Auckland’s NZICC from October 1-5. Entry is free, but bookings are required.The Breast Cancer Tees for a Cure are available to purchase at The Dressing Room or order online via Breast Cancer Cure from October 1.