A Founder who puts out fires…literally.
Jaime Salcedo isn’t your typical founder.
He’s a full-time FDNY firefighter. A tattoo artist of 13 years. And now, the founder of a fast-growing pain relief brand built from scratch—literally in his kitchen.
His company, Painless Picasso, launched just a few months ago and is already in 50+ shops across the U.S.—tattoo studios, waxing salons, and cosmetic clinics using his natural numbing cream as an alternative to lidocaine-based products.
But this didn’t start with a product.
It started with a client text.
“I had dislocated my shoulder in a fire. I couldn’t tattoo. I was sitting at home, in a sling, when a client asked what numbing cream to use,” Jaime says. “That’s when I finally looked into it.”
What he found shocked him:
Most numbing creams on the market use lidocaine, a derivative of cocaine, and haven’t changed much in decades. Jaime didn’t want to slap his name on something he couldn’t trust—so he started researching, formulating, and testing his own natural alternative.
“I spent a year in the kitchen trying to get it right. Talking to chemists. Networking. Learning everything I could.”
He had no experience in CPG. No MBA. No investor.
Just a story, a vision, and the discipline to keep showing up.
Jaime grew up with the “self-made” mentality.
Do it yourself. Prove your worth. Grind in silence.
But launching Painless Picasso changed that mindset.
“Self-made doesn’t exist,” he says. “Everyone who tells you they’re self-made is lying. You need people. You need community. You need belief.”
So he built that, too.
He showed up to tech events- even though his business wasn’t “tech.”
He got into an accelerator. He pitched. He listened. He kept going.
Now he’s lining up collaborations with legacy tattoo brands and building something that could change the entire pain relief industry.
“I want people to know: you have a natural option. You don’t have to use pharmaceuticals. And you can trust this product-because I use it. I stand behind it.”
That trust shows up in every part of Jaime’s story.
He’s not here to spin a perfect origin myth.
He literally corrected us in the interview when we got one detail wrong—because “integrity matters more than narrative.”
He’s still a firefighter.
Still running into burning buildings.
Still putting in 80+ hours a week building this business.
And the pressure? That doesn’t faze him.
“I’ve literally been in buildings on fire. So when people say they’re ‘putting out fires’ in their startup—I laugh. I know what that actually means.”
Jaime’s not trying to go viral.
He’s trying to build a brand that outlasts him.
One that educates consumers. One that redefines what pain relief looks like.
One that says: this isn’t just another CPG company- it’s a mission.
“This is the third time in my life I’ve felt this kind of fire. First was tattooing. Second was becoming a firefighter. This is the third. And I know what that means.”
He’s still early. Still building. Still pushing through.
But if you know anything about Jaime- you know he’ll keep going until the job is done.
This is what underestimated looks like.
Let’s Thrive,
—Eric
Want to chat and see if we're a fit? https://www.thrivers.co/check-the-vibe
