“It’s just fun to do a show that people are invested in,” JoAnna Garcia Swisher tells PEOPLE

With season 2 of Sweet Magnolias premiering on Feb. 4, both fans and stars of the show can’t wait for the new episodes.

In a conversation with PEOPLE, JoAnna Garcia Swisher, who plays Maddie, talks about why she loves the show, her real-life connection with her costars and her life off the screen as a wife and a mom of two.

Fans of Sweet Magnolias know the connection between Maddie, Dana Sue (Brooke Elliot) and Helen (Heather Headley) is one for the books. Over countless margarita nights, the trio manages to always have each other’s backs in the trials and tribulations of life.

And, when it comes to their connection off-camera, Garcia Swisher, 42, says it’s pretty much the same. “We are like a little pack. It’s fun to get together and just to see each other outside of work. That’s why I love shooting our margarita nights because we’re all together,” she says.

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While those margarita nights are fun to shoot for the three stars, not everyone might agree. Garcia Swisher admits those scenes are “probably the most frustrating scenes for our director to get through” as the director will ask “ladies, let’s focus” many times to make the take worthwhile. “Those are probably their least favorite, but at the end of it, we’re having the most fun,” she shares.

Getting along with costars is not the only reason Garcia Swisher loves doing the show so much. “It makes me so happy that this show resonates with people,” she says. “It’s just fun to be to do a show that people are invested in and that people really love. That sounds so obvious, but it feels good.”

Fans did, in fact, really love the show. When season 1 premiered in May of 2020, Sweet Magnolias earned the No. 1 position in Netflix’s top 10 shows in the United States after just five days on the streaming platform. “Woke up this morning to this news! I’m blown away!” Garcia Swisher posted on Instagram at the time.

Outside of the success of the show, Garcia Swisher is a mom to Emerson, 8, and Sailor, 5, with former baseball player husband Nick Swisher. And much like her character Maddie, Garcia Swisher’s family is her No. 1 priority.

The mom of two attributes a lot of her parenting skills to just being honest with her kids about everything. The actress says her kids learn a lot by “watching me navigate life, and my husband navigating life, honestly, through the ups and the downs.”

Communication is undoubtedly their biggest skill. “If they’re kind of struggling with someone in school, or something that they fear, we work out the worst-case scenario in their minds and create a dialogue that allows for it to not be so scary and kind of get it out in the open,” she says.

“My hope as a mother is that they see that I am eternally in their corner and that they will always be my greatest gift and priority,” the actress continues. “Being a mom and watching the girls grow and doing it next to somebody that I respect and admire so much is really a gift.”

Season 2 of Sweet Magnolias premieres Friday on Netflix.