The only person in control of your success is you. So says Carol DeNale, senior vice president and corporate treasurer of CVS Caremark Corp.

And by focusing on her company’s success, DeNale has found plenty for herself as a business leader.

“I am a businesswoman who, along with my colleagues, has worked hard to ensure that CVS Caremark is successful. And, as a woman in business I can look at certain situations and issues with a different perspective,” she said.

DeNale started with CVS Caremark 15 years ago as the company’s cash manager. Today she directs the company’s capital structure; the cash management, risk management and EHS (environment, health and safety) departments, along with capital expenditure, balance sheet forecasting, leasing and business continuity.

She has been responsible for securing financing for transactions that have allowed for the company’s continued growth from a $15 billion retail pharmacy to the $100 billion health care company it is today.

And that’s only a sample of her many accomplishments.

Still, the assumption remains that it is more difficult for a woman to succeed in business. If that’s true, it has not stopped DeNale.

“I’m not sure if it is harder for women or not,” she said. “I have never viewed the workplace in this manner. What I have come to realize is that everyone in the workplace needs to determine what they want and what is required for them to achieve success. … Once you realize this and take charge of what you want, your opportunities are limitless.”

Her possibilities were first gleaned when she was young, growing up a Steelers fan in Pittsburgh. (“We Steelers fans are everywhere,” she warned.)

Both of her parents were successful in their careers, but it was her father’s path that interested her the most and offered a broader perspective. His success as an accountant at U.S. Steel “made me realize that an accounting degree provided a solid background to be successful in many areas,” she said.