Gordon began her comedy career in New York, where she worked at Comix comedy club and produced a live show with Pete Holmes. By the time she moved to Los Angeles in 2010, Gordon was pursuing comedy and freelance writing full-time.

Gordon has written two webseries aimed at teenagers, called Power Up and ExploreD, at Disney.com. She wrote for the second season of The Carmichael Show on NBC, writing an episode called “New Neighbors”. In addition to writing, Gordon also produces comedy. In 2010, she created a weekly live show co-hosted by Jonah Ray and Kumail Nanjiani called The Meltdown with Jonah and Kumail, located in the back of comic bookstore Meltdown Comics; Gordon served as producer and booker. In 2011 she was asked by Chris Hardwick, who wanted to turn the space into a curated comedy venue, to act as program director. She served as program director of the Nerdist Showroom at Meltdown Comics from 2011 to 2012. In 2013 Comedy Central ordered a pilot for The Meltdown with Jonah and Kumail, which was made a series in 2014; Gordon was an executive producer.

From 2011 to 2015, Gordon and Nanjiani co-hosted a Nerdist network podcast called The Indoor Kids, which “isn’t just about video games, but it isn’t not about video games.” In 2020, Gordon and Nanjiani co-hosted a podcast called Staying In with Emily and Kumail, about the quarantine due to COVID-19.

Gordon’s first book, Super You: Release Your Inner Superhero, a tongue-in-cheek self-improvement guide, was released in 2015.