Dan Zimbardi: Leading Through Change in a Digital Age

Dan Zimbardi was 40 years old, staring at two large retention bonuses that represented a small fortune, when his phone rang. On the other end was Matt Brown, the founder and senior pastor of Sandals Church in Riverside, California. The conversation would force Dan to choose between financial security and a calling he couldn't shake.

Nine months of prayer and conversation followed. The Holy Spirit spoke clearly through his wife, Lori. The decision became unavoidable: tear up the stock awards, take a massive pay cut, and step into vocational ministry at a single-campus church of a couple thousand people.

"It was a huge risk, especially at that stage of life with a family," Dan recalls. "But the Lord was in it and was leading us when we said yes."

That was 14 years ago. Today, Dan serves as executive pastor of Sandals Church—now a thriving 14-campus congregation that has become a leader in church mergers, successfully adopting 11 struggling independent churches and repurposing Kingdom assets that might otherwise have been sold off.

A Hard Conversion on a Southern Sunday

Dan's journey to that pivotal phone call began 26 years ago in a small Pentecostal church in Georgia. He had checked all the boxes the world told him to check—career success, financial achievement, upward mobility in the corporate supply chain world. But something was missing.

"I had success as it was defined by the world in my 20s, but felt that loneliness and sort of lack of meaning and purpose," Dan says.

His brother had been inviting him to church for months. Dan finally said yes—partly to get his brother off his back, partly because he felt low and knew something had to change.

What happened next was unexpected. The parking lot volunteers were remarkably friendly. A greeter at the sanctuary door gave him a hug. The usher was kind. Each small gesture prepared his heart for what came next: the gospel message that would transform everything.

I had a pretty hard conversion, almost like a road to Damascus conversion where my sin became really evident very quickly without having an understanding of scripture. But the Holy Spirit was very active, like immediately.

Dan began pursuing the Lord with urgency, intent on changing his life and living surrendered—even when he wasn't fully sure what that meant. God met him in that willingness and began a work that would eventually lead him out of Corporate America and into full-time ministry.

Kindness as Evangelism

Last night, Dan and his wife Lori were playing pickleball at a local park with their daughter. They rotated in and out with a group of players throughout the evening, laughing and competing under the California sun. When they got in the car afterward, Lori shared something a woman had told her during a break between games.

"She said, 'Your husband is one of the kindest people I've ever met,'" Lori reported. It was the first time they'd met this woman.

For Dan, that moment captured how he tries to live out his faith daily: through intentional, consistent kindness.

Kindness is a superpower. I think it's one of the best evangelism tools that we have. I try to lay a foundation or a bridge of kindness to people that I meet and I know.

That posture of kindness extends through every area of Dan's life—from generous tipping at restaurants to supporting missionaries and seminary students. He and Lori view tithing as a starting point, not an endpoint, extending generosity to all corners of their lives as a way to say thank you to the Lord for the resources He's entrusted to them.

Building a House of Honor in Seasons of Conflict

Working in church leadership, especially at a large multi-campus church, means navigating constant conflict. The last six years have been particularly challenging, as political and social divisions have spilled into sanctuaries across America.

"Talk to any pastor and they'll tell you the last six years have been the hardest season of ministry in their lifetime," Dan observes.

His response has been to double down on honor—a framework he's taught for years in a talk about building a house of honor in your church, home, or business. The outline hangs on his office wall, and point number one is foundational: Honor people when they don't deserve it and despite their inadequacies.

"My faith really shows up in working through conflict, in trying to be at peace with people as it pertains to me, what I can control, trying to really honor people," Dan explains.

That commitment to honor has been tested repeatedly but has also shaped who Dan wants to be known as—a leader who works through difficult relationships in a God-honoring way, even when it's costly.

Leading in the Age of Relentless Change

Beyond his role at Sandals Church, Dan co-founded the AI Church Community, teaching pastors and ministry leaders how to become AI-enabled and more effective in their roles. He also coaches executives and senior pastors, helping them navigate the unprecedented rate of change facing every sector of society.

"From my estimation, the world is changing faster than ever before in the history of mankind," Dan says. "The rate of change in culture, politics, medicine, the church, education—it's everywhere."

His advice to Christian business leaders is direct: learn to be a change agent. Study change management. Embrace transformation as a discipline, not a disruption.

If you don't change at all, or if you don't change the right thing at the right time, you can lose your business. There's just a lot on the line.

He points to Blockbuster, Sears, the PalmPilot—companies and products that failed to adapt and paid the ultimate price. In the church, poor change management doesn't just lose members; it can cause people to walk away from their faith entirely.

For Dan, at 55 and a proud Gen Xer, staying relevant means staying humble. "I think so often people, as they get older, they struggle with change. And I don't want to be that person."

Fighting Isolation with Friendship

There's one more thing Dan wants every reader to hear: don't isolate yourself.

In the digital age, it's easy to cozy up to a phone, to scroll through social media instead of sitting across from a friend. The algorithms are designed to be addictive, and they're good at their job. But isolation is spiritually dangerous.

"The Bible says a man that isolates himself seeks his own desire, and he rages against all wise judgment," Dan says. "The way to get out of isolation is by stepping into community."

As people grow older and more successful, they often have fewer real friends—the kind who can show up at 3 a.m. and raid your fridge without asking. But God made us for relationship, and He does some of His best work in us through friendship and community.

Anyone reading this who feels isolated—hear this: actively pursue friendship and community as a way to be nearer to God, as a way to find more joy in your life and purpose.

Dan and Lori have four kids—two out of the house, one a nurse, one in college, and two in high school. His youngest son just turned 15, and Dan loves spending time with him on the golf course.

It's a full life, shaped by a hard conversion 26 years ago and a costly yes 14 years ago. Dan traded stock awards for a surrendered life, and he's never looked back. The kindness that woman noticed on the pickleball court? That's the fruit of a man who chose obedience over security and discovered that God's blessing looks nothing like the world's definition of success—and it's infinitely better.