Growing up in Oxford, Canterbury, she and her two sisters were raised by their single mother Serena Bisley.
Her mother would work extra shifts at the local vineyards to pay the bills and still managed to fit in girl time, she said.
Fast forward and Ms Walker is 29, a solo mother running her own nail and beauty business that has helped her buy a home in Lake Hawea for herself and her three daughters, Nevaeh, Alazae and Meadow.
"I just do it. I fit my life around my three kids really, while they are at school or while they are at their dad’s.
"That was my goal — to make work flexible so I could always be there for my kids. So they could always see Mum waving in the crowd and see that I was there."
It had not been plain sailing in the past two years.
She struggled to pay rent and meet the weekly grocery bill.
"I struggled, I really struggled; I was on the bones of my arse, basically, when we separated," Ms Walker said.
To fit in her work as a nail expert, she would book clients while her children were at school, or even late at night when they were in bed.
Her business, Glamorous Nails and Beauty, has since taken off, and she has so many clients she is booked four to six weeks in advance.
"I just get on with it. People comment I am doing well and say ‘You’re incredible ... you have three kids and have an amazing business’, but it is so hard to see that within yourself.
"Maybe it is inspiring to juggle three kids and have a business."
Ms Walker sees the paradox in her work.
Still a tomboy at heart and covered in tattoos, she creates and paints feminine designs on her clients’ nails.
"I was such a little tomboy, getting around on bikes and all that. I played rugby. Mum was always naturally girly."
"When I had Nevaeh I was like, ‘I can’t go back to this industry, I have to look after the kids, but I still want to be a boss lady’ so I turned to my own business."
Since completing her nail course in 2015, developments and expectations had increased. Clients wanted more: a point of difference and artwork on their fingertips and toe tips.
"It has developed a lot and changed heaps. There is a lot of upskilling in it. It isn’t like back in the day when it was just gel polish and acrylic.
"The designs are really big now and that is what brings a lot of clients towards me, and me being able to do that."
The intricate details took a lot of patience and a steady hand, she said.
Being more successful now on one income than when the load was shared, Ms Walker said she was grateful for how things turned out — and her original inspiration of her mother showing her it could be done solo.
