When we deepen our level of presence in XR, it translates to how we lead better, manage better, and learn better. This pays dividends in our connection and wellbeing in the "real world," too!  That’s what today’s guest, author and XR designer Caitlin Krause, specializes in. Caitlin authored "The Importance of Presence" chapter in The Global Resource Guide to XR Collaboration, and joins Julie to discuss the importance of presence in XR environments.

Julie: Hello, my name is Julie Smithson, and I am your XR for Learning podcast host. I look forward to bringing you insight into changing the way that we learn and teach using XR technologies to explore, enhance and individualize learning for everyone. Caitlin Krause is my next guest, and she is a globally recognized learning and leadership expert, author, and keynote speaker. In her 2019 book -- "Mindful by Design" -- through her consulting, she helps individual leaders and teams leverage mindfulness, storytelling, and design principles to connect more deeply with their communities. Caitlin's organization, MindWise, focuses on creating experiences that increase awareness, emotional intelligence, and creative collaboration opportunities. Thank you so much for joining me today, Caitlin. I really look forward to our conversation.

Caitlin: Thanks so much, Julie. It's great to be here.

Julie: We're going to talk about something so important today that is maybe not on everybody's mind, but it certainly is on ours. I'm just going to pass it over to you to do a bit of introduction, to let us know what you're doing in this space and how you're making an impact.

Caitlin: Sure. Well, I would say, first off, that it is a time of great transitions and adaptation. And I lean into that. I feel like this is a time that is extremely important for people to look at the notion of connection. And my mission in founding MindWise five years ago, and now in working with so much immersive technology and XR collaboration, really the mission that drives me is to empower humanity through connection. So I'm always looking-- I have a background in technology and also in learning design, and I'm really looking at that human factor of how do we use technology in ways that empower us. And in terms of that word, "connection", I'm thinking a lot about that connection inside that we feel when we're connected with our purpose, with our presence, and also with the values that are underneath what we're driving in business and in the way that we conduct our life. And also that connection outside, which is with other people, other experiences. I love being able to talk about this topic with you, because there are so many nuances to how that shows up in the world. I would say that I don't think there's a clear distinction at this point between business and personal lives, because many people -- probably ourselves included, I know myself -- there's not a sharp line between how I'm showing up personally and professionally, because a lot of us are working from home or we're driven to businesses that actually involve our personal self and our drive.

Julie: Yeah, absolutely. So much has changed in the past couple of-- just a matter of couple of weeks. We're only about three months into this situation that we're all in, working from home. And maybe just taking that baseline moment to recognize where we are today. So people have been told they have to stay home, they're working remotely, and now they're dealing with technology. Let's call it Zoom, let's start there. Everybody seems to be logging in to Zoom. And I actually had a great experience today, hearing my mother -- who's 76 years old -- manage t